Starfox Evil Book II
by Undead Fox
Summary: Here it is! the sequal to Starfox Evil. Enemies old and new show their faces again
1. Memories

**Hey folks! I'm back and ready to go! Sorry I took so long, but I had writer's block. Anyway, I hope this first chapter makes up for it by blowing your minds! Read and review please.**

**P.S. I don't own anything except what I create, DUH!!! In addition, this will have the same content as the last book, so you know what to look for.**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter One:**

**Memories**

McCloud estate, Cornaria City, Cornaria…

_Date: September 22, 2219_

_Kind of hard to believe, isn't it? With all the crap I've been thru, all it took to force me into therapy was seeing a few zombies shuffling around on some God forsaken planet on the opposite side of a wormhole, in another reality no less! Yes, that's right I finally took the doctors orders, at Krystal's request, and went to see Doctor Thompson yesterday. At first the secretary said, "Oh I'm sorry, but Dr. Thompson isn't taking any patient's today", then I told her who I was, and showed her my I.D. I wish I'd had a camera._

"_Oh my", she'd spluttered before she slapped the intercom. I don't like it, but I've got to admit, being Fox McCloud has its benefits._

Fox sighed and slouched in his seat…

_The doc was all smiles when he led me into his office. All leather furniture, wood paneling, and the smell of too much cleaner spray, met my senses. He was a very polite old raccoon, his fur almost all grey and dressed in a black two-piece suit. He gestured to a stereotype leather couch and went straight to business. He pulled out a data-PAD and started asking me the usual questions, "For the record", he said._

_So I answered, I gave him my name, age, father's name and age he was when he died, same with my mother. Then I told him why I was here. He got this little smirk, it only lasted for a second, but it was there. _

_It pissed me the fuck off!_

_He told me, "Your condition is fairly normal Mr. McCloud. I get this kind of thing a lot from soldiers, cops, and others from dangerous fields that have come close to or are around death."_

"_Around death", I'd told him, "Around death? Doc I wasn't just around death, Death was around me! For every second I was on that planet I was surrounded by death! And another thing, you get this kind of thing a lot from soldiers, right", he had nodded, "Well most soldiers don't have to fend off the living dead! They don't have to keep undead freaks from feasting on their flesh and turning them into just another body in the horde."_

_The prick just adjusted his glasses and said, "True, this is the first time I've ever had the privilege of talking to someone who has experienced that. So I guess this isn't a very normal case after all."_

_I just glared at him. Then he got that smirk again. My bionic eye twitched and I thought, "So help me, if he get's that little smile on his face again I'm gonna kill him."_

_Then I sighed and looked at my shoes. I ran my hands thru my hair as I asked, "Will they ever stop?"_

_Doc stood up and walked over to my side, "Nightmares and flashes like this are tricky. They are your mind's way of expressing emotions it cannot process normally. I think though, if you are willing to work with me, that yes they will go away…."_

Suddenly Fox heard Krystal shout, "Hon! Dinner's ready!!"

Fox smiled, "Gotcha! Be right there", then he turned back to the screen in front of him, "I think I'll see Dr. Thompson again. And maybe I won't kill him if he get's that smirk. End journal entry."

He stood up and stretched his hands above his head. His simple white button up shirt offset his grey slacks. His feet were encased in shiny black loafers. He scratched his head, running his fingers thru his white-blonde hair, which he had let grow out. He looked down at his right hand. The shiny metal surface glimmered in the light of the sun coming thru the windows of his office.

"Gotta find out what went wrong with the skin", he mumbled to himself. His mismatched eyes shifted around the room for a moment before he left and went to the dining room. Sitting on one side of the square table was Krystal, her blue fur complementing the white housedress she wore. In her arms was their blue feathered and pink furred gryphon son Falco, a bottle clamped tightly in his feathered hands, it's nipple in his beak. Fox leaned against the doorway for a moment and took a deep breath, "Smells good. Steak?"

Krystal nodded, "With mashed potatoes, corn, and country gravy", at the smile that grew on Fox's face she chuckled, "Aren't you glad I'm taking cooking lessons?"

Fox laughed, "Darn right", just then the baby yawned. Fox gestured to his drowsy form, "You want me to lay him down?"

Krystal nodded, "Would you please? I'll get dinner on the table."

Fox walked over and gingerly plucked the infant from her arms. He went down the hall to the nursery and laid him down in his crib. He smiled as he ran the back of his left hand over the child's cheek.

"To think, you almost never got to know us…"

Suddenly Fox's eyes rolled back in his head as the memories flashed in his mind…

_There was a pounding sound. Fox found himself in the hallway, walking towards the front door. He opened it to find a pair of marine political officers standing on his front porch._

"_Yes? Can I help you?"_

_One of them stiffened and looked him in his eyes, "Mr. McCloud?"_

_Fox nodded, "Yeah?"_

"_We need you to come with us sir."_

_Fox sighed, "Listen. If you've come here to offer me a mission then forget it. My wife and I have only been back for four days and we've got a kid to think about now. So we won't…"_

_The blackbird just cut him off, "This is non negotiable. By order to Rear General McNeal you, your teammates, and the former Hellraisers, along with the human known as Alice are to be placed under quarantine, pending scanning and sterilization."_

"_WHAT!?"_

_The avian ignored him, "If you and Miss Krystal do not come willingly then you shall be taken by force."_

_Fox snarled, "Damn you McNeal", then he sighed, "Fine", he looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Krystal! We've gotta go!"_

The visions skipped ahead…

_Fox's eyes opened to reveal that he and Krystal were standing in a plastic box, roughly twelve feet across and fifteen deep. Looking thru the clear plastic walls, they could see John McClain on their right and Archie Mitchell to their left. Their rooms were just like the one they were in, a single light in the 'ceiling', two chairs and a table right next to the only door, and a full size bed across from the door._

_Suddenly that door opened and in walked a pair of HAZMAT suit encased lizards._

_One of them held up a data pad as Fox said, "We've been here for three days now! How many God damn tests do you have to run?"_

_The one without a data pad raised his hands, palms out, "Don't worry sir, this is the last one for you two. Downside, it's gonna hurt. We need a bone marrow sample, to ensure there is no deep infection."_

_Fox threw his hands up in frustration, "How many fucking times do I have to tell you? The T-virus is transferred by bites or direct fluidic contact. I was never bitten, therefore I cannot be infected!"_

_Again the one with the pad was silent as his companion said, "We're just following orders Mr. McCloud."_

_Finally the other spoke, "Place your right hand on the pad sir."_

_Fox glowered at him and raised his right hand. He had been ordered to take the skin off so there wouldn't be any confusion. He clicked the fingers together in annoyance._

_The lizard sighed, "Right. Sorry. Okay left hand then", he held out the pad again. Fox complied, settling his left hand into place. Then the scientist pulled a metal box off his belt and settled it on the pad over his hand. Fox took a deep breath then grunted as a flash of pain lanced thru his system. There was a flash from under the lip of the box right before it was removed. Fox lifted his hand from the pad and rubbed his wrist._

_Suddenly the door to Archie's room opened. However, instead of scientists, in walked a couple of marines in full battle gear, with their helmets sealed in place. They lunged forwards and grabbed the husky tightly. As he struggled and shouted one of them pressed a small pin to his neck, and immediately the canine fell unconscious._

_One of the scientists in their room muttered, "Poor bastard. Guess he came back positive…"_

Fox's eyes snapped open. He was sitting on the floor, head in his hands with tears streaming from his left eye in torrents. He was also shivering and sweating like a pig. Wiping his brow he muttered, "Wow. That was a bad one."

Just then Krystal came rushing in, "Fox! Are you alright", then she saw how he was, "It was another flash wasn't it?"

The male vulpine nodded, "Yeah. But I'm okay", he looked at his son and smiled, "Look at him. Little guy'd probably sleep thru a bomb going off", then he grimaced again as another memory played in his mind.

Krystal caught him as he slumped over, "C'mon. Forget dinner; let's just get you to bed."

The blue vixen knew she was lucky. She hadn't been thru half as much trauma as Fox had while on Earth. Now she just wished she could help him to deal with it. Later that night she was packaging up the food for reheating later as Fox lay in their bed. After she placed the final package in the refrigerator, she sighed and rested her forehead on the cool metal door. She muttered, "All my telepathy, and I can't help the one I love thru his pains."

Suddenly a pair of hands settled on her hips and a pair of lips pressed against the base of her neck, just below her blue hair, "You are helping me. And you don't need telepathy to do it."

Krystal smiled and turned around in her husband's grasp until she faced him, "You're getting good at that."

Fox chuckled, "Sure makes playing predator easier when you can't tell when I'm going to POUNCE!"

As he said the last word, he clasped her hips tightly and lifted her up to seat her on the counter. She let out a gasping laugh when her feet left the ground and closed her eyes. When her rump met the tiles, she opened them to see Fox's predatory grin plastered on his face. But that grin faded into a loving smile as he nuzzled her cheek and whispered, "By the way. Happy thirty-first birthday."

Krystal smiled and threw her arms around him, "Thank you for remembering."

Fox hugged her back and kissed her cheek, "Anything for you my love."

Krystal's smile widened, "C'mon. Let's go make some memories."

Fox's grin returned in full force as he said, "You've got a ten second head start."

**End Chapter One**


	2. FriendsOld and New

**Here's chapter two! Read! Enjoy! REVIEW!!!**

**Starfox Evil **

**Book II**

**Chapter Two: Friends…Old and New**

Three weeks later

Fox was standing in the tactical room at Starfox Security Corp's main building, his eyes roaming over the massive display screen in front of him.

"Alright Will. Keep your cool. Remember, this scumbag is only your responsibility 'til you reach the courthouse. After that his life is out of our hands."

On the screen was an exact duplicate of the Heads Up Display inside of William Trident's eyepiece, "Finally. This guy is such a pain in the tail. At least now I know why you passed this one off to me and Rick."

The camera panned over and the aforementioned iguana came into view, who just chuckled and shook his brown and green head. Fox rolled his eyes and said, "Now now Will. Keep your eye on the prize."

On the other end of the screen…

Will sat in the armored car across from the squirming, handcuffed ferret that he was tasked to protect. The criminal glared at the mouse.

"The fuck do you keep staring at punk? You daydreamin' 'bout me bendin' you over one of these benches."

Will snorted, "Listen shithead. Talk shit all you want, I don't care", the van slowed to a stop, "Just know that as soon as you are thru those big doors up there you won't have me and my friend here to watch your back. So you better pray to every god out there that the guys that want you dead aren't waiting for you in there", the mouse smiled wide at the terrified look that crossed his charge's face.

Just then the back of the truck opened up and two tiger cops in riot gear stood outside, both holding blaster rifles in their hands. One of them jerked his head towards the massive building behind them, "Let's go", he said bluntly.

The ferret gulped and cringed back in his seat, so Rick rolled his eyes and gave a shove to his back, sending the criminal tumbling out into the two officers. As he was hauled away the reptile waved cheekily and shouted, "Try and keep a low profile there Jimmy!"

Then the reptile grabbed the armored doors and swung them shut as Will tapped his earpiece, "Job's done Boss. He's out of our hands."

Back in the tactical room…

Fox nodded, though neither of his employees could see him, "Good job. And very nice with the way you shut him up, bet he practically crapped himself", he sighed and shook his head, "Come on back guys. I'll get the pay processed and sent out to you ASAP."

Rick responded with, "You got it Boss.

Fox pulled the earpiece off and rapidly scratched his ear. Then he placed the piece in it's place along with all the other headsets. He walked out the door and stretched, clenching his hands above his head. Then he scratched his neck and yawned. He looked at his watch and sighed, "Eight o'clock. Time to leave."

Just then a young calico intern came around the corner in a tight grey skirted suit, talking into her own earpiece as her black heels clicked on the polished floor.

"Please wait one more minute sir, I…Oh! Mr. McCloud", she took the headset off and handed it to her boss, "General Pepper is on the line for you."

Fox took the piece and set it on his head, "General?"

The bloodhound's voice came back, "Hello Fox. How've thing's been for you?"

The vulpine chuckled, "Just fine General, and you?"

"Oh well enough. Listen, are you near a holoscreen?"

Fox arched his brow, "Hang on a sec", he walked back into the tactical room, "Now what?"

"Put it on channel forty-two."

Fox walked over to a terminal and typed in the command and a news program popped up.

"…Despite several threats, all of which have been associated to a terrorist group believed to be composed mostly of remaining units of the old Venomian army, Crown Prince David will assume the throne as our new emperor at noon next Thursday following his coronation. The Prince was reported as saying, "It would serve no purpose to cower away from oppression on my first day in office…"

As the newscaster continued Fox shrugged, "Am I correct in guessing that the soon to be Emperor wants Starfox to provide escort and security for the ceremony?"

General Pepper's voice came back, "That's right. But not just anyone. He want's your best…and **you**."

Fox balked slightly, "Me?"

"Yes you. The Crown Prince wants the best for his protection during this ceremony, which means you."

He shook his head slightly, "Doesn't he know I'm retired? I'm just a suit now, I just do the paperwork. I coordinate the missions…not execute them."

"Sorry Fox, but he wants you. And he **is** the Crown Prince after all…"

Fox sighed, "Yeah yeah. Fine…but this had better pay damn well. And I want to talk to him beforehand", he rubbed his cheek, along the scars under his bionic eye, "I'll talk to you later Scott. I've got some planning to do."

He heard the canine cough, "Listen Fox, there's something else. I'm stepping down."

Fox chuckled and nodded, "It's about time old friend."

"General McNeal is taking my place."

This stopped Fox's wit cold, "What? That jackass put my wife and teammates thru hell for three days! And they kept me there for another four, even though all the data proved I wasn't infectious", Fox sighed, "Whatever. I guess I'll just have to deal with him."

"Take care Fox. And good luck."

"Goodbye Scott", Fox took the headset off and turned to leave, but he bumped into the secretary, who had come to stand almost right behind him.

"Oh! Sorry Kelly, here's your phone."

The feline took the piece and collapsed it down before placing it in her jacket pocket. Fox walked past her and into the elevator, not noticing when she sprayed something on him as he went past. The door hissed closed behind him and he gulped, thinking, "Wow! Did it just get hot in here?"

By the time he got to his office to collect his things for the day he was going crazy. The heat wasn't uncomfortable, nor even enough to make him perspire more than a little. It was simply enough to be noticed. Fox flopped down in his chair and unbuttoned his shirt, loosening his tie, "Good God! The hell is wrong with me?"

Just then the door opened and in walked the intern.

"Miss Hewes? What can I do for you?"

As she walked towards him the vulpine watched her hips sway back and forth hypnotically. His eyes traveled up her trim body to her large bust which bounced with each step, revealing that she had no bra on under her white button up blouse, and her jacket was nowhere to be found. When his half lidded eyes finally met her face he was met with a smug grin.

"Oh it's not what you can do for me Sir."

Fox's fogged mind could barely keep up with what she was saying, "Then…what?"

The feline coyly tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "Well actually there is one thing", she stepped up to his desk and leaned over it, which let her bust be more openly displayed to his addled eyes, "Ya see, our group's internship is up at the end of the month, and there's only one spot available", she walked around the desk, dragging her fingertips along the polished surface. She came around to his side of the table and turned his chair to face her. Then she promptly seated herself in his lap, "It would mean **sooo** much to me to be given that place", she began to grind her crotch against his as her meaning slowly sank in, "And I'd be willing to do _**anything**_ to get it."

Then she promptly kissed him.

Fox's mind suddenly snapped to, "Holy shit!"

But his body didn't respond properly. In fact, another, more primal part of his brain seemed to take over, and his hands began to wander over her back. Fox struggled to get his body back under control, but he could hardly even feel anything, could barely think, and things were just getting foggier.

"Come on", he screamed in his head, "I've gotta stop this!"

As he struggled his body had moved on it's own, and he was kissing her back. His hands had started unbuttoning her shirt and they had stood up. Fox was near panic now, "Oooooh she tastes _good_! Shit! I don't get it", then an idea popped up, "Wait! I've got it!"

He reached out with his weakened mind, thankful that she was so close, and searched her mind for any clue as to what was wrong with him. He found it in the memory of a small bottle in her purse beside her desk, a bottle that contained her own liquid pheromones.

"Well perfect", he thought, "So how am I supposed to get away from tha…Ouch!"

Apparently while he was in her mind Kelly had accidentally scratched him with her claws. To Fox's horror he saw that her skirt was lifted, revealing no underwear, and she was frantically fumbling with his belt.

"God dammit", he growled.

To his surprise she looked up at him, "Hmm, feeling a little feisty are we?"

Fox blinked and thought, "How? The scratch! Oh. Maaan…"

He slowly and jerkily lowered his right hand down to his thigh, took a breath, and squeezed. Pain lanced up his leg like fire and he grimaced, but his mind cleared considerably.

"Mr. McCloud? What are you doing?"

Fox hunched over, his forehead rested on her bared breasts. As he breathed raggedly he took a quick stock. His tie was gone, and shirt unbuttoned. His belt was open and his pants were in the process of being undone. He straightened his back and placed his left hand in the center of her chest. He could feel her heart beating rapidly.

But that didn't matter to him.

He snarled and gave a hard shove, sending her tumbling backwards over his desk and to the floor.

"Get out", he growled.

She blinked rapidly, "W-What?"

Fox growled again and bared his teeth as he looked at her, fury burning in his eyes, "I said GET OUT!!!"

The female scrambled to gather her clothes and ran out the door. Fox hunched over his desk and just sighed, "That was close."

He quickly dressed himself and left. Some god out there must've had it in for him that afternoon though, because he wound up waiting in the elevator with the intern. His eye twitched and he fought to keep his anger in check. She stood against the wall, her eyes down. Fox looked her over quickly, grateful that the spray seemed to have worn off. Then he noticed the box of books, papers, and personal items at her feet.

"What is that?"

Kelly gulped and muttered, "I've cleaned out my station Sir."

Fox shook his head, "Why? I never fired you."

The feline spluttered and looked up at him, "What?"

Fox shook his head solemnly, "Kelly, I won't deny that I am pissed as hell at you for what you just tried to do", he clicked his teeth and shook his head some more, "But I guess I'm just too nice a guy, 'cause I'm willing to let it go and give you another shot at a job."

Kelly's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Her boss nodded, "Yep. If you were that desperate to get the position then I guess I can't just toss you out on your tail. But you won't be working for Starfox", at her confused expression he said, "Let me ask you this, do you have a problem with kids?"

Later…

Krystal was sitting in the den, watching a human movie called Next. She was roughly halfway thru it when she heard her husband enter the house. She went to the door to be swept up in a bear hug and kissed fiercely. A large smile swept across her face as she returned the kiss.

"My my! What's got you so riled today", she thought to him.

Fox chuckled and responded in kind, "I've got good news and great news, which do you want first?"

"The good news."

Fox set her down as he said, "I've been called onto a mission", Krystal's eyes widened, "Now now, it's nothing crazy, just a little security detail, here on the ground, no spaceships involved."

Krystal arched her brow, "Okay, so what's the great news?"

Fox smiled and waved the ex-intern into the room, "I found you that personal assistant you were looking for, to help you with your modeling career."

Krystal was surprised she hadn't felt the calico's presence before, "Must be getting rusty", she thought. Then she searched the feline's mind, and found something she didn't like, "SHE tried to do that to YOU!?!"

Fox cringed at her raised tone, "Krystal, baby calm down. She didn't get anywhere with it, thanks to all the mental training you helped me with", he could tell Krystal was still annoyed so he settled his hands on her shoulders and said, "Just give her a try. She's a hard worker and fairly dependable. If you don't like her by the end of the month then you can fire her and we'll just try again."

Krystal poked her finger into Fox's chin, "Fine. But if she tries anything like that again I'm going to have to hurt her."

Fox just smiled…and Kelly shuddered…

One week later…

Fox was in a small room at the Imperial Hall, along with, Joanna White, Patricia and Alena Jackson, (the two had formalized their marriage almost as soon as they had gotten back from Earth), and Panther Caruso. All were dressed in various civilian clothes, so they could blend in with the crowd. Fox looked at his assembled team. All were armed with CEB-7s in concealed places.

Fox stood by the door, "You all know what you're supposed to do", upon receiving nods from each of his friends he set his headset in place and opened the door, and they all filed out into a courtyard which was occupied with numerous officials. Fox spotted a certain human among the uniformed peacekeepers along the fence line.

"Alice! Hey Alice!"

The blonde woman looked in his direction and smiled, "Fox! How are you?"

The vulpine shook her hand and smiled wide, "Oh I'm doing fine. And you seem to be doing well yourself."

Alice nodded, "Yeah. The government gave us the Lylatian equivalent of our old Earth jobs back. Since there is no Umbrella Corp here I was offered a place in law enforcement."

Just then two human men walked over. One was rather large with reddish brown hair, while the other was of a leaner build with blonde hair. The larger one said, "Who's your friend Alice?"

She turned wrapped her arm around the vulpine's shoulders and gestured to each man in turn, "Fox, this is Chris Redfield, and Leon Scott-Kennedy. Leon, Chris, this is Fox McCloud…the guy who saved us all."

Fox rolled his eyes, "Now knock that off. I", just then his COM buzzed, "Excuse me. Ahem McCloud speaking."

He smiled as Krystal's voice came back, "Hey there handsome, guess what."

Fox chuckled, "You've…become a devout nudist?"

Krystal giggled, "Good guess. Fara's got Falco so that when you get home the only thing I'll be wearing is my pretty smile."

Fox grinned, "Mrr, sounds fun", just then his COM beeped, telling him he had another call, "Oop! Hang on babe", he tapped the earpiece, "McCloud."

Panther's voice came back, "They're letting in the civilians now."

Fox sighed, "Right. Time to go to work", he flipped back over to Krystal, "I gotta go hun. Talk to you later."

He heard Krystal sigh, "I love you. Stay safe."

Fox let a small smile cross his face, "I love you too."

Then he killed the link. Back at the house Krystal sat down on the couch, her tail curled up in her bare lap.

She had a real bad feeling. And there was something else, something she hadn't felt since Earth…

The crowd really poured in, thousands of people of all species, even humans. Fox and the others were patrolling the surge of people, keeping a weather eye out for suspicious activity. As he moved thru the crowd Fox spotted an orangutan who looked like he wanted to not be noticed.

"Hmm", the vulpine mumbled as he moved closer. Closing his left eye he began to cycle thru his vision types, muttering as he went.

"Thermal…clean."

"Infrared…clean."

"EMF… gotcha!"

He ran over and shot his hand into the primate's coat and yanked out a Compact Automatic Blaster model seven.

"Hey there buddy. You got a license for this?"

The simian didn't even respond, just turned and tried to run thru the crowd. Fox tapped his COM and said, "Need assistance! Suspect is orangutan in black sport coat heading back towards north gate!"

The primate didn't get very far. He busted thru a cluster of civilians and found himself running into the heel of a standard police issue boot. Fox caught up to him in time to see Leon slapping a pair of cuffs on the primate.

"Few! Thanks Leon", he said.

The human nodded, "Not a problem. So why am I cuffing this guy?"

Fox tossed him the CAB-7, "Packin' without a permit

Leon smirked, "And he thought he could run huh? Seems that even on this planet criminals are just as stupid as ever."

The two shared a chuckle as the human led the primate towards a waiting squad car. Fox smirked, "I like this guy…"

**End Chapter Two**


	3. Truth be Told

**Starfox Evil book II**

**Chapter three: Truth be Told**

"Things are going pretty well", Fox muttered to himself.

"My first mission in months and no major screw-up's", then he narrowed his eyes as he scanned the crowd around him.

"Things never go this well."

He placed his hands in the pockets of his long grey trench coat as he walked thru the people. His gaze lifted and settled on a large podium. Across the flat surface stood a large, long table. And seated at this table were Twelve chairs, one for each governor of each of the main planets, Zoness, Cornaria, Fortuna, Sauria, Aquas, Papetoon, Macbeth, Katina, Titania, along with the current Emperor Schwartz and his sons, Crown Prince David and Prince Edgar.

Fox came to a stop behind a cluster of timber wolf women, who were all chatting to each other like birds in a tree. Just then an announcer stepped up to the microphone sticking out of the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, May I have your attention please", every pair of eyes fell upon him, even Fox's, although his continued to dance among the people, "We have now come to the point in the evening where the coronation process begins. I now give the floor to His Royal Highness, Emperor Schwartz!"

A leopard with all his fur fading in color, going to varying shades of gray, wearing a dark purple sash around his neck, stepped up to the mike.

"People of Lylat, you all know me. I'm no Shakespeare. I can't give some moving speech or write a great novel. All I do is get my point across, and let you…the people decide. My predecessor had no children to take his place, so you, your parents, and your grandparents, you all chose to have me ascend to the throne from my place in the council. Now it is my turn to pass on the torch, so to speak. For you have chosen my second son David to take my place, to become the new Emperor of the Lylatian Empire", the leopard turned and a black panther walked up. The old leopard smiled, "I am proud to have fathered this fine man. And I'm sure that he will lead you well and with pride into a bright new future."

As the emperor lifted the sash from his neck and set it around his son's neck the crowd cheered. Fox even allowed himself to relax slightly and join them, clapping as hard as he would allow himself. From off to the left he saw several high ranked officers, along with the Imperial Honor guard walk up onto the stage. The freshly coronated emperor turned and arched his brow, "High General McNeal? What are you doing here?"

The gorilla officer smirked, "Just giving my congratulations. This is truly a historic day. A regime change is always" , he took a deep breath, "nice."

The crown prince arched his brow, "But this regime isn't ending, it's just changing hands."

The gorilla nodded his head side to side, "Of course, of course."

He then reached inside his jacket. Fox's eyes widened and he jerked his own hand to the small of his back out of reflex.

However the general did not pull out a blaster, or knife, or weapon of any kind. He pulled out a small medal. A Royal Armada Navy Cross, it's silver alloy gleaming in the light, it's blue and white silk ribbon shining bright.

"When I served under him, your father gave this to me, for protecting our cruiser from a number of separatist militants as they attempted to board us. I feel that you should have this, to inspire you to continue your father and be the leader you are meant to be."

As the general and guards walked away Fox narrowed his eyes before closing his left one and scanning the silverback's form. As the general stepped off the stage Fox shrugged, he was clean. Emperor David then began his speech. Fox's gaze drifted back and as his new ruler came into view and he opened his other eye a brief flash in his EMF range.

"What the", he muttered as he quickly clicked back over to that field. There was a ball of white energy emitting from the Emperor's chest. Suddenly that ball pulsed bright. Fox opened his other eye. Where the ball was located was the medal, which was pinned to the panther's chest. The loud roar of in-air engines filled the area, and suddenly a dark green fighter tore thru the sky overhead. The world seemed to slow as Fox saw the Venomian symbol on it's underbelly. He shoved his way thru the crowd, trying to reach the podium as he shouted, "EVERYBODY DOW…!"

But he was cut off by the air to surface missile hitting the stage. Fox, along with all of the nearest civilians, was blown thru the air, crashing into the shocked crowd and sending people scattering.

"Fox! FOX! Wake up Dammit!"

The vulpine's eyes fluttered open and he grabbed his head, "Oh fuck!"

He looked down to see that his clothes were singed, his fur blackened. The synthetic skin on his right hand had melted and was dripping from the metal underneath.

"Just fuckin' perfect", he snarled as he tore the rest of it off in a brief flash of pain as the sensory nodes overloaded. Looking around he saw that the crowd was running around in a panic. Kneeling next to him was Joanna, her snow white fur turned grey by ash.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face and said, "Snap out of it! We have to help the cops get the crowd under control!"

Fox nodded and stood up. Feeling behind him he noticed his blaster was luckily still in place. Finally he took a deep breath and raised his voice, "People please! Proceed towards the exits calmly! Don't push, don't panic!"

Suddenly there was the sound of blaster fire and screams. Both the mercenaries' heads snapped in that direction and they ran towards the sound. Suddenly blaster bolts snapped into the ground in front of them, forcing both to dive behind a nearby table. Fox kicked it over and they slammed their backs against the impromptu cover.

Suddenly someone shouted, "Over there! He ducked down over there!"

Someone else responded with, "The Master wants his head!"

Fox shot a quick peek over the lip. He saw the group of Imperial Honor Guard standing in a group. Each of them had a CEB-7 in their hands, smiling madly as they fired into the crowd. As his position was discovered he snarled, General McNeal was standing in the middle of them, firing right along with them. The vulpine's eyes widened as he watched the gorilla gunned down a fleeing cheetah woman. The primate laughed as the woman screamed in pain before he swung his weapon over to bear on Fox.

Fox jerked his head back down as a single green bolt flew thru the air to blast a pockmark in the table's surface. Then a dozen more bolts slammed into the table. Fox jerked his blaster free and took a quick blind shot. He heard one of the gunmen grunt followed by a loud thud. Fox took a quick peek over the table. However, instead of seeing a dead body, he saw the red garbed lizard stand back up as the air around him rippled and distorted slightly. Fox shouted in surprise, "Personal shield generators?!"

Then he shot his hand into his pocket, grateful to find his Community was still there. He put it on and shouted, "SLIPPY TOAD!!!"

Back at Starfox headquarters

Nearly the entire staff was crammed into the tactical room, watching the debacle unfold on the midday news.

"…And as you can see it is just complete and utter chaos down in the courtyard. Although we cannot get a clear view thru all of the smoke, it appears that a group of unknown gunmen have begun firing into the crowd. Local law enforcement and private security detail have engaged the terrorists and…"

Suddenly one of the employee's COM units buzzed.

"Starfox Corp. This is Slippy To…"

"Slippy! I need your help!"

The green amphibian balked at the urgency in Fox's voice and ran out into the hallway, "Hang on!"

As soon as he could hear properly he said, "What do you need?"

There was the sound of a blaster bolt striking near the other end of the line, "Firepower! These bastards have personal shielding and my blaster doesn't have the power to get thru!"

Slippy ran towards the elevator, "Got it!"

He rode it down three levels and ran out the doors as the computer said, "Level Three…Armory, Teleporter Control, Gunsmith, Training Hall."

The hallway was closed off in front of him by a heavy blast door. So the amphibian slapped his webbed hand against the scanner to it's right.

"Identity confirmed…Welcome Slippy Toad."

Slippy dashed thru and ran straight to the teleporter room. He ran to a console and furiously typed in commands. On a large platform in front of him a grey box appeared, roughly two feet high and four long. Running from the room he bolted down the hall and, once scanning his palm again, entered the armory. He ran to a rack of Heavy Blaster Carbines and loaded up, piling four of them into his arms. He dumped them on a cart and ran back to grab ammo charges. He pushed the cart back to the teleporter room and loaded the rifles before throwing them and the spare cells into the box before closing and sealing the case.

Finally he returned to the console and sent it away. As the box vaporized he called Fox…

Fox jerked down again as yet another bolt took a chunk out of the table.

"Fox can you hear me?!"

The vulpine opened the link, "You got that stuff coming or not!?"

"It's coming right now."

Fox sighed and turned to Joanna, "We've got firepower on the way."

He heard the sound of something being teleported, but didn't see anything. Suddenly he heard one of the gunmen shout, "Hell yeah boys! Today's our lucky day!"

Both Fox and Patricia flinched at those words. Taking a quick peek Fox saw three of the traitors dragging a grey box into the group. Suddenly Slippy came back over the COM, "Fox! The targeting processor just shorted out! My aim was probably off!"

Fox snarled and shouted, "NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!"

Then a rapid series of impacts showed that they had broken the lock and loaded the rifles. Fox grabbed his lapine partner and dove forward, just in time to miss the higher power blasts that ripped massive holes in the table. Fox shouted, "GOD DAMMIT SLIPPY!!!!"

"I've got it!."

Suddenly there was a high pitched buzzing noise. Fox heard one of the gunmen shout, "WHAT THE FU…!?!"

Then he was cut off by an explosion. Fox peeked over and saw red goo and body parts scattered all around. He also saw several of the gunmen struggling back to their feet. Fox growled and jumped to his feet. He vaulted over the table and ran over to the nearest enemy, a black wolf, and proceeded to snap kick him in the chest. His black sneaker caved in the lupine's ribcage, which was moot because he jumped and spun his other leg high, bringing the heel of his other foot crashing into the top of his head, splitting his skull. Next he tackled the second survivor to the ground, grabbed his feline muzzle, and slammed the back of his head into the concrete. He heard a blaster bolt strike nearby. Whipping his head around quickly he saw one of the gunmen, an iguana, was falling over with a smoldering hole in his chest, a blaster falling from his limp, dead hand. Fox then heard the sound of someone running away.

Normally this wouldn't have bothered him. But seeing as all the civilians were either cleared out or dead…

"McNeal! You bastard get back here!!"

The vulpine jumped to his own feet and took off after the silverback…

Ex-General McNeal bashed thru the front door of a small shop, across the street from the place where he had committed high treason.

"McNeal! You bastard get back here!!"

He winced as he glanced thru the shattered window along the building's front. He saw Fox running quickly in his direction. The gorilla turned to run, but grimaced as he felt a sudden twinge of pain in his right leg. He looked down and was shocked to see a piece of stone, roughly six inches long, jutting from his thigh. He supposed the adrenaline had stalled the pain. Now however, it came at him full force.

To nearly any other species, this injury would have been crippling, but not the massive primate. He snarled as he grabbed the chunk of masonry and ripped it out. Then he limped on, trying to put distance between him and his enemy…

Fox saw the gorilla duck into a store damaged by the explosion. He ran over and jumped thru the shattered front window just in time to see him move back outside thru a back door. Fox ran outside, just to slam into the gorilla's back. McNeal grabbed Fox and hurled him like a rag doll. Fox slammed into a wall and slid down onto his tail. He looked up at the primate, who grinned and said, "Fox McCloud. The _mighty _Fox McCloud. My master has been waiting for you to die. And now he shall know that I am the one to do it!"

Fox arched his brow as he climbed to his feet, "Your Master? Dammit Andross is dead! Why can't you people just accept that?"

The gorilla laughed as he pulled something out of his pocket, "Andross? What makes you think I serve him? That fool tried to conquer Lylat three times, and each time he was stopped. First in the form of your father, and then twice more by you", he opened his hand to reveal a large needle, filled with a red fluid, "No. I serve a master far more powerful than that", he jabbed the needle into his arm and emptied the vial, "You know, truth be told I was hoping I'd be the one to kill you. After all…you killed my son."

Suddenly the ape's arms bulged and twisted. His chest swelled and the crack of bones breaking could be heard.

"Your son?! What the hell are you talking about?"

The ape chuckled. His voice had deepened greatly, "You knew him. He flew with your friend Panther for a little while."

Fox's eyes shot wide with recognition, "Andrew? Your son was Andrew Oikeney?!"

The gorilla's uniform tore and shredded as his body became too large for it, "Yes, he took the name of that bitch of an ex wife of mine. Said it was a stronger name, that it stood for a stronger purpose", the ex general's jaw cracked and his teeth extended into a row of razor sharp fangs, "He was right."

Fox's jaw moved up and down like a fish out of water at the sight. The general, already an imposing six foot six inches, now stood almost twice as high, weighing only God knew how much. Luckily the gorilla's pants remained partially intact, although the legs had split open and now hung loosely from his hips, like a forked loincloth. He roared loudly, shattering glass in every building within earshot, and forcing Fox's ears to flatten against his head. In return Fox raised his blaster and fired three shots.

McNeal surprised him by bringing his left hand, which had swollen to be half his height across and gained armor like scales, and shielding his head. In the same motion he swung that club like appendage with surprising speed and slammed into Fox, sending the vulpine flying out into the street. Apparently the police border just so happened to fall right there, because Fox landed in a crowd of curious civilians. He scrambled to his feet and shook his head.

"Is That?"

"It IS!!!"

Suddenly Fox was swarmed by the crowd, everyone babbling and jammering in a mass of voices. Fox shoved his way thru, shouting, "Get out of the way!"

Once he got to the front he saw the two buildings that border the alley he was just evicted from shake and groan. He turned and shouted to the crowd, "You have to leave! You have to get out of here!!"

Suddenly another roar came out of that alley and the crowd grew silent. Now Fox turned to the uniformed peacekeepers who had gathered near him, "Dammit get these people out of here!"

No sooner had he said that than large fist shot straight up in the air, blowing one of the buildings apart and sending chunks of metal and synthetic stonework skyward. And as can be expected the crowd dissolved into a panicking, screaming mob, with everyone running around like a feral chicken with it's head cut off. Then the other building came apart as well, and the monster that used to be General McNeal came into view. He was hardly recognizable, having gained another four or five feet in height and width, and most of his fur had fallen out and was replaced by hard scales. Fox suddenly realized that several of the officers had run forwards and were aiming their blasters at it. He was just about to shout, "NO", when they fired.

Dozens of bright green bolts of energy flew towards the monster. However they just impacted on the surface, scuffing and scoring the armor like plates. McNeal laughed and grabbed a hovercar that was sitting on the side of the street. He swung it like a club sending bodies scattering. His voice was even deeper as he shouted, "Give me a real **fight**!"

Then he threw the car, right at Fox…

**End chapter Three**

**Read 'n Review Please-U.F. **

**Also I'm sorry this took so long, God damn writer's block, but I think I've got my groove back so things should be somewhat more consistent.**


	4. AftermathXXX

**A/N: I realized I messed up the last chapter. So I went back and made a few small changes, namely replacing Patricia with Joanna, to make a big part of this chapter work, so if you like go back and reread it. Now on to your regularly scheduled insanity.**

**Also, I feel like a bit of douche for taking so long-I'M SORRY!!!**

**P.S.: A prize goes to the first person to guess the quote and the movie I 'borrowed' it from in the last chapter. And it's not NEXT which is something else I don't own.**

**P.S.S: Remember what the XXX means!!**

**Starfox Evil Book II**

**Chapter Four: Aftermath**

Fox dove out of the way of the car and right into the path of McNeal's fist. Adrenaline flooded his system and time seemed to slow. He rolled away, and as he rolled he felt the scales on the massive fist catch the tails of his trench coat, yanking the fabric and sending him flipping thru the air.

"WAAAA!!!!!"

He landed with a crunch and rubbed his head as he stood up. He saw a large mass of grey fabric hanging from those scales and realized it was about half of his coat.

"Ah man! I really liked that one", he shouted as he pulled the rest from his shoulders. He looked up at his foe and shouted, "And I didn't kill Andrew! He was blow up by the Aparoids! You know that!

McNeal just growled and shook his head, "You chased him there, you lead him to his death. You are responsible for his death."

Fox shook his head and sighed, "If that is how you want to see it."

McNeal scowled, "That is the way it is", then he chuckled and waved his hands, "Now c'mon!"

Fox growled and depressed the trigger on his blaster, only to hear nothing, "What the", he looked down at the weapon in his right hand to see that he had accidentally crushed it when he had taken his little flight. He growled and threw the ruined gun away. Now all he had left was hand to hand combat, and in this situation that was a one way trip to the morgue.

"I'm Waiting!"

Fox's gaze shot back up to the ex-gorilla. He was standing there with his arms crossed, leaning against one of the ruined buildings. Nearly all of his fur was gone, replaced with dark grey scales. Fox's mind raced, "How am I going to beat him? He's at least five times my size and armor plated everywhere. Except…"

The general rolled his enormous shoulders, "Now don't tell me that you, the _mighty, _the_ undefeatable __**Fox McCloud…**_ is afraid to fight me?"

Fox shook his head, "I'm only mortal McNeal."

The monster laughed and started towards Fox, "Exactly. You are no different than any other person out there."

Fox sighed as the monster stopped right in front of him, having to tilt his head back to keep eye contact, "I never said I was. I've always tried to drive that point home, but nobody seems to get it."

McNeal slammed a fist thru a nearby hovercar, "Shut up! You've always basked in the limelight! You are more inspirational to this wretch of an empire than the Emperor himself was! Well now I'm going to take that from them."

Fox's head dropped in defeat, "Just make it fast."

The general smirked and raised both fists above his head, intent on crushing Fox with them. When they were at their highest point Fox acted. He dove forward, landing between the monster's feet. He then rolled onto his back and said, "I hope this works!"

He tapped into the power that the Krazoa had given him and drew his knees back to his chest. When he was charged he release that pent up energy and kicked straight up, driving his sneakered feet straight up into the only place the gorilla still had fur…his groin. The gorilla stopped dead, his already distorted face twisted in pain and he roared, roared louder than he ever had before. Then his hands shot to cover the furred area and Fox rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed as the primate came crashing to the ground. Fox stood up as the monster whimpered in pain, "I can't believe you did that."

Fox shrugged, "It was the only way I could beat you", it was at that point that Fox noticed the blood flooding from the space between McNeal's legs. He lifted his shoe and saw something off-white smeared all over the sole, "Oh God! What the fuck!?"

McNeal growled, "I. Will. Kill. You!"

Then he stood up, blood running from his crotch. Fox backed up as the monster staggered towards him, but stopped when he stumbled. McNeal grabbed his head and said, "What's…Why?"

Fox stood up straight and crossed his arms, "Some of the largest arteries in the world run thru the groin. And that area has the worst blood clotting rate. A serious enough injury to the testicles and you can bleed to death in minutes", McNeal crashed to his knees, but continued to crawl after Fox as the vulpine continued, "I guess your larger body pumps your blood faster."

Then McNeal fell flat on his face. Fox walked over to him and said, "I guess you weren't fast enough."

McNeal chuckled and his body began to shrink back to normal, "I guess not. But you will still die. We are not strong enough yet, but soon enough, we will rise up and destroy this empire. We have already crippled it, now all that is needed is a little push, and everything will end. None will be spared my master's wrath."

Fox clenched his metal fist anxiously, "Who is your master? Tell me!"

McNeal coughed then laughed again, "You …_cough_…already know him…_cough_… he's the reason you have that hand…_cough_… and the eye."

Fox caught on immediately, "Wesker."

McNeal laughed, "_Coughcough_… He will have his revenge, even if I could not."

The general's body stopped changing, he was back in his normal form. Fox grabbed his shoulders roughly and shouted, "Where's Wesker? Where's he hiding?"

The gorilla chuckled weakly as his eyes clouded over, "I wouldn't know, he's always just popped up somewhere. Don't worry though, when he wants to, he…will find…_you_."

Then McNeal went limp, dead on the concrete. Fox gulped, "Well that was ominous."

It was then that the crowd came surging back. Fox rolled his eyes and growled as he was bombarded with questions.

"Mr. McCloud! Can you explain what happened here?"

"Mr. McCloud! What happened to General McNeal?"

"Mr. McCloud! Do you know who is behind all this?"

Fox rubbed his temples. It never ceased to scare him how quick the press was to jump feet first into any given situation.

"You can all wait and hear my statement from the police like everybody else. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to check up on my squad, and then I'm going home."

Fox walked thru the crowd, who bombarded him with questions he ignored, until a new group of police officers came over to keep them back.

He marched back into the courtyard, and began searching for his friends. After a few minutes he found them, all bunched together. Alice and Leon were among them.

As he drew near he saw that Patricia wasn't there. As he drew closer and saw the worried looks on their faces and the distraught look on Alena's face he quickly deduced the obvious answer…she was hurt. He stepped up to the tigress and said, "How bad?"

Alena sobbed and rubbed her eyes, "Patty got burned by the blast from one of the missiles."

Fox arched his brow, "One of? But", Then he looked around and saw multiple smoldering craters, "Oh. Uh…shouldn't you be with her now?"

Alena gave him a look that told him exactly how stupid that question was. Then she sniffed and mumbled, "The ambulance was full. They had three people crammed in there, along with the EMT and police guard", she broke down and sobbed into her hands, "She got burned so bad."

Alice rested her hand on Alena's shoulder, "Don't worry. I sent Chris with her. He'll take good care of her 'til we can get you there."

Alena nodded numbly as Leon tapped Alice on the shoulder, "Then let's take their statements and get this over with quick so they can go."

The other human nodded and stood up. She reached down and unclipped a dataPAD from her belt and tapped the screen, "Alright, I guess we'll start with you Alena…"

A half hour later Alena, Joanna, and Panther were all running towards the tigress's car. Fox had to stay behind due to his own experiences in this little mess. The three of them all piled in the car and tore off into the sky, with Panther driving as Alena was too upset and Joanna was trying to comfort her. The black furred feline sighed, he had only recently even tried two get to know the Jacksons, simply because he had recently started working for Fox. Up until two weeks ago he had tried going solo. And when that didn't work his girlfriend Fara reminded him of Fox's offer of a job. So he had gone down to the Starfox building and walked up to the front desk.

**FLASHBACK**

Panther was wearing his best suit, the same one he wore to Fox and Krystal's wedding. It was solid white except for an ebony black necktie. As he stood outside the large building he sighed, "I'd hoped I wouldn't have to do this."

Then he walked thru the doors. He walked quickly over to the front desk where a little calico cat sat, typing and answering COM lines.

"Starfox Corporation. Front desk, how may I direct your call?"

Panther could hear the faint sound of someone talking on an audio only headset before the secretary said, "Of course sir. I'll connect you with financing and billing immediately", she typed a command into her console and then turned her attention to Panther, "Hello. May I help you?"

Panther knew better than to flirt with someone while they worked, that got him nothing but hell when he was with Starwolf. So he smiled and said curiously, "I have a meeting scheduled with Fox McCloud."

"Alright. Can I get your name so I can let him know you're here?"

Panther simply said, "It's Panther Caruso. Nono, it's C. A. R. U. S. O."

The secretary nodded and deleted, then retyped his name, "Very good. You may wait over there until called for if you'd like."

Panther walked over to the designated area and sat down. Fox had come out a few minutes later and led him back into the building, into a plain office with his name on the door. They talked business for a while, before Fox said, "Well then I think I'll introduce you to your sergeant. Her name's Alena Jackson and you'll be answering to her in the field. You might remember her. She was one of the two troopers we picked up on Earth."

**END FLASHBACK**

Then he had been introduced to the tigress in the back seat of the car being comforted by her sister in law. The one female he had thought he would never see this broken up. However he just kept his mouth shut as they flew, knowing that nothing he could say would help at all. When they arrived at the hospital it was swarmed with people, loved ones of those caught in the explosion. It took them almost an hour to get directions to the room. The three of them had to cram into an elevator filled to the brim with people of every species. When it finally reached their floor they had to practically shove their way out, and they saw how lucky Patricia was. There were people on gurneys and stretchers in the hallways, with doctors and nurses fighting to save them.

Finally they found the room. Inside were several beds, each with an occupant.

"Heeey guuuuys", was lightly called in their direction.

Turning to face the voice Alena squealed, "Patty", before she ran over to her wife's side, hugging her tightly and crying into her shoulder, "I'm sorry!"

They watched as Patricia smiled. Or as she tried to smile. Almost half her face was covered in bandages. The sheets were pulled up tight to her chest, which was also bandaged. And one of her arms was in a sling. The rabbit wrapped her free arm loosely around Alena's shoulders, "Don't worry. The doctors gave me some good painkillers, and they said with some skin grafts and fur implants I'll be back to my old self in no time."

Panther smiled, "That's good."

Then the injured rabbit turned her head slightly and saw her sister there, "Jojo! Come here and give me a hug."

Panther left the room to give them their family moment. He stood in the hallway and took a deep breath. Then all the sounds he had been blocking out seemed to come rushing in. all the screams of pain, all the shouts of doctor and nurses who were overwhelmed. His thoughts were interrupted as from the next room over he heard the steady tone of an EKG flat lining. He poked his head in the door to see an iguana nurse furiously trying to save someone who was burned beyond recognition and was missing both legs. Then he noticed the nurse's assistant, "Hey, Chris right?"

The uniformed officer looked over at him. His uniform was covered in blood.

"And you are?"

Panther stuck his hand out, "Panther Caruso. I work with Fox McCloud. Actually I should say work for him but…"

Chris peeled a blood slicked glove off and shook the feline's hand, "Chris Redfield. If you'll excuse me I've got work to do."

Chris walked past Panther and straight into the room across the hall. The feline turned and watched as the human moved quickly to the side of a cheetah who had a large wound in his stomach. Panther moved to his side and looked on the thinner feline with pity, there was no way he would survive his wounds. The cheetah sobbed in pain and suddenly snatched Panther's gloved hand. Chris walked over to a locked cabinet and passed a white card over the scanner.

The lock beeped and an electronic voice said, "Welcome Officer Redfield."

The door opened and Chris grabbed a small pack of sedative tabs. He plucked a red one from the pack and pulled the small protective cap off, "This will make you more comfortable."

The cheetah sobbed, "Oh God! I'm gonna die", he furiously squeezed Panther's hand, "I don't want to die!"

The black furred feline felt his heart go out to the furred man dieing before him, and he found himself squeezing back as he leaned over him and gave a soft smile, "Don't worry. You'll be alright."

The cheetah gasped as Chris stuck the pin into his neck, before his breathing slowed, and finally stopped. Panther sighed as the hand he was clasping went limp, "I didn't think advanced medical training took place at the academy."

Chris sighed and shook his head as he leaned against a wall, "I didn't learn that here. Back on Earth I was part of an elite law enforcement group, Special Tactics And Rescue Squad, or S.T.A.R.S. Every member was trained to act as a field medic, in order to tend to anybody's wounds on the spot. When I told this to the doctor who took over Patricia he immediately had an ID card made for me, and I've been busting my ass helping where I can."

Panther nodded, "Good job", he rested a hand on the human's shoulder, "When they finally let you go, I know a good bar."

Chris chuckled, "Yeah sure. Now I've got other patients, see you later."

Back with Fox

"… And then he just died. Blood loss most likely. Either that or that stuff he injected himself with."

Leon growled and kicked a piece of rubble, "Damn it Wesker!"

Alice slapped his shoulder and snapped, "Cool it Leon", then she turned back to Fox, "We've got what we need. You can go."

Fox nodded, "Thanks", he then turned and ran to his own car, which was waiting by the main gate.

As he blew thru the sky, heading for the hospital, he stretched out with his mind, "Krystal? Can you hear me babe?"

When he got no answer his eyes widened and he spun around in the sky, roaring towards home.

Back at the house

Krystal was watching the news, looking with horrified eyes at the satellite footage of what used to be a beautiful courtyard. Now it was covered in smoldering craters. Ambulances and patrol cars lined the borders and covered the streets. Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched cops and medics loading bodies into the ambulances. She was so distraught by the amount of pain she was feeling she didn't even notice Fox trying to connect with her. She just curled up on the couch and cried as she held her head, trying to block out hundreds of screams and cries of pain. Some time later, she wasn't sure how long, she heard someone shouting her name…

Fox landed hard, the skid pads on the bottom of the hovercar scraping along the pavement. He practically dove out the door, leaving it open as he ran to the house.

"Krystal? Krystal!?"

He ran from room to room until he stopped at the den door. He saw Krystal curled up on the couch, cradling her head and sobbing.

"Oh my God!"

Fox dashed over to her and pulled her into his lap, "Krystal please look at me. Please…_Please!_"

Krystal's fur was slick with sweat, and tears were running down her cheeks. She clutched weakly at Fox's sooty and bloody shirt, "F-Fox."

The tan vulpine hugged her to his chest and stroked her hair. She whimpered and held onto him tighter, "I can feel their pain, their fear", she shuddered and clawed at his chest, "It's never been this bad beforeAAHHH!!"

She screamed and clutched her temples as Fox tried to comfort her, "Hang on baby. I'm right here."

It took nearly an hour for her to calm down. Fox had moved Krystal to their bed and covered her, sitting beside the bed like she had done with him months ago after his fight with Wesker. When she finally opened her eyes she gave a weak smile, "Oh my head!"

Fox sighed and wiped some hair from her face, "It's probably because you're so close. It wasn't this bad when you sensed the Aparoids on Sauria."

Krystal nodded slowly and sat up, her head clearing slightly, "I think you're right."

Fox smiled, "So you feel better now?"

Krystal returned his smile, "Yeah", then she looked down at her lap, "I'm sorry our plans didn't work out."

Fox took her right hand in his left and squeezed gently, "I'm just glad you came out of it alright."

Krystal smiled. It was then that she noticed the gleam of silver from his right hand, "Fox. What happened to you?"

Fox looked down at his bionic hand, "I was too close to the blast. Melted the skin."

Krystal furrowed her brow, "_The_ blast? Fox there was more than one missile."

Fox shook his head, "Wha? But…", then he had a brief flash of memory, his eyes wandering over the field and seeing many smoking holes, "You're right. There were four."

Krystal looked him over, aside from some soot on his fur and the skin on his metal hand being gone he looked fine. She sat up in the bed and realized he had dressed her in a pair of purple cotton pajamas, "How about you? Are you alright?"

Fox waved his natural hand, "I'm fine", then his shoulders slumped, "Just really tired."

Krystal immediately scooted over and pulled back the covers, "C'mon. try and sleep."

Fox stood up, "I'm gonna take a shower first."

Krystal stood as well, "I'll join you", Fox started to say something but she stopped him, "I just don't want you to be alone for this."

Fox sighed and lowered his gaze. Then he nodded, "Alright."

The two foxes walked to the bathroom where they disrobed and entered the large shower. As Fox turned to turn on the water Krystal saw the bruised on his back from when he had been thrown thru the air. She gasped and gently pressed her fingers to one of them, "Fox! You said you were fine!"

The tan vulpine hissed at the contact. The sound made Krystal jerk her hand back. Fox leaned against the tiled wall and grunted, "I **am** fine. These are nothingGAAH!"

Krystal's face saddened slightly as he grunted in pain. Fox always had on a mask of strength, even though he knew she could see right thru it. She stepped closer until she was directly against his back. She made the contact light so as not to hurt him, "Fox let the mask go. You know I can tell you're in pain. You aren't out there being mobbed by the press, keeping your calm so as to not worry them. And you aren't in battle, ignoring the pain so you can keep fighting. You are home, with the vixen who loves you. You are safe, away from prying and judging eyes", she placed her hands on his shoulders gently and kissed the back of his neck.

Fox sighed and his shoulders slumped. He let out a slow breath before he turned to face her. He hugged her loosely, and she felt his mask slip. In truth his injuries weren't overly bad, just severe bruising on his back, and some muscle strain in his legs. Fox gently rubbed her sopping back and he whispered, "I'm sorry. Sometimes…it's hard to leave that part of me at the door."

Krystal smiled and nuzzled his chin. Her husband stood a few inches taller than her, just the perfect height to cuddle her like this. Her hands rested on his pecks as he tilted her head to kiss his cheek, "I understand."

Fox held her tighter, despite the screams of protest his back made, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Krystal giggled, "Not as much as I love you."

Fox rolled his eyes, "Oh God! Don't start that please. We'd end up going back and forth till the day we died."

This time Krystal laughed, "Fine. But that means you concede to the fact that I love you more."

Fox flashed his teeth, "Then I'll just have to prove I love _you_ more."

Before she could say anything he pressed his lips against hers. Krystal smiled and licked at his lips. In response he tilted his head to the side to lock muzzles with her, allowing their tongues to dance amidst their teeth. Fox's hands wandered quickly downward till each grasped a toned buttock and squeezed. He picked her up and grinned as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, even with the pain. He set her down on a little shelf that had until just then held their shampoo and conditioner bottles. Now those plastic containers were laying at Fox's feet as he roughly kissed his way down Krystal's neck, stopping only to give her a little bite at it's base. It wasn't nearly enough to draw blood, or even break the skin. All it did was tell her that he was asserting dominance, a dominance to which she happily submitted.

He felt her muscles relax slightly and continued his southward journey. When he came level with her chest he began to plant nibble on the soft flesh, never doing more than his short little claws would. When he could smell her arousal he changed tactics, now licking over her mounds, but never touching the peaks. He ignored them completely, those little pink nubs, and moved further south, till he found the 'promised land'…so to speak. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as his lips found that neat and trimmed patch of dark blue fur, which stuck out from the creamy white of the rest of her core. He pressed his nose into that thatch and sniffed again, breathing her sweet scent.

"Mmm. You changed shampoos. Boysenberry?"

Krystal closed her eyes and bit her lip gently, "Yeah. You liIIEE!!!"

Her pitch rose sharply into a pleasured shout as Fox ran his tongue over her temple. Fox looked up at her and chuckled at her voice as he repeated the action, his wet muscle making slow, strong passes over her folds. With each pass he pushed a little harder, until finally his tongue slipped her. His wife arched her back and moaned loudly, but stayed right where he put her. Fox worked his tongue inside her depths now, drinking in all her passion that she gave him. He closed his eyes again and began to kiss the lips before him as passionately as they had the pair that sat higher. After a moment he settled his lips around her pearl and suckled, working it till she was screaming in pleasure.

When she was just about to peak Fox pulled away, standing up and holding her tight, which pressed his own arousal against her stomach. He slid his left hand up her thigh to gently thumb her clit, while his metal right one rubbed gently at her flank.

"Mmm. You know what I want baby", he whispered, before he ground his crotch against her's.

Krystal swallowed hard as that black shaft rubbed over her nether lips, the sensations causing her to narrow her eyes with sexual frustration, "W-What?"

Fox rubbed his cheek against hers, "I want to make something", his metal hand slid down to rest on her stomach, "in here."

Krystal had honestly not been expecting that. She thought he was going to ell her he wanted her ass again or something, which she had no problems with mind you. But this answer was totally out in left field.

She stammered a bit as he pressed harder against her button, "R-really?"

Fox nodded and whispered to her ear, "My baby having a baby would mean the world to me", then he leaned back a bit so he could look her in the eye, "That is…if my baby thinks we're ready."

Krystal smiled and kissed him as she whispered, "Yes. I would love to try with you."

Fox smiled softly. But then that smile grew into his predator's grin and he stepped back. He arched his finger at her, "Stand up."

Krystal shivered submissively and did so. As soon as her feet hit the tiles Fox spun that same finger in a circle, "Turn around and bend over."

Krystal did as she was told, spinning around and leaning against the wall with her legs spread and tail moved to the side. She pressed her cheek to the tiles and panted as she looked over her shoulder to watch Fox rub his rod over her entrance. Her husband grinned hungrily at her before he started to press inside.

Krystal moaned loudly as inch after inch entered her, "Oh God! Good…_soooo __**g-goooood!**_"

Fox chuckled as he hilted, "That's right baby. And it's all for you."

Then he began a rhythm, slow and smooth, keeping it gentle, just as she liked it. Krystal sighed and smiled as she settled her face on the tile between her hands, gently rocking her hips back against his. She gasped when he grabbed her hips and shifted his stance slightly, and now his thrusts rubbed against her sweet spot.

"Oh God Fox! Right there!"

Fox leaned over her and wrapped his arms around her. He grasped her gently swaying breasts and massaged them as he kissed her neck. He picked up the pace slightly as her moans grew louder. The sound of their hips slapping together was drowned out by the sound of Krystal's ecstasy. Her husband smiled and picked it up even further.

Krystal bit her lip and tilted her head back as Fox started to full on pound her snatch. She let the pleasure flow over her just like the steaming water raining down on them, "Yes! Yes God! Fuck me Fox! Fuck me hard!!"

And he happily obliged. He shifted his grip, one hand down to her hip and the other up to her shoulder, pressing her even further forwards till her chest smashed against the wall. Then he began to do just what she asked, thrusting and roughly rutting her. He hunched over and pressed his forehead into the back of her neck. He felt a familiar pressure building in his groin and he growled like a feral wolf, warning Krystal what was coming.

The blue vixen gasped, she had already reached her peak, "Yes! Fill me Foxie! Fill me up!"

Hearing her ask was all it took and fox suddenly wrapped both arms around her waist. He squeezed her tight and hilted himself hard as he climaxed. As he gave deep orgasmic thrusts he leaned back and lifted Krystal from the floor. The vixen gasped and her eyes spread wide at the feeling of him flooding her tunnel. Her toes spread and her hands shot behind her to grasp the back of his head. As his climax subsided he gently set her down. Krystal felt him pull out of her and she slid to her knees, panting and breathing heavily. She heard Fox give a sort of growling chuckled before he moved into her field of vision. Then he grasped the back of her head and started guiding her towards his crotch. She took the hint and began to clean his rod of their fluids, licking and slurping along his ebony shaft. By the time he was clean he was hard as a rock again and she was quite ready for more. Fox slid his hand down to her shoulder and gave her a firm push, sending her onto her back.

Krystal gasped as he grabbed her knees and hooked them on his shoulders. But her gasp turned into a long drawn out moan as he slid deep inside her again, "OHH! Fuck YESSSSS!!"

Fox smiled, knowing it was him that was making her scream like that. He reared hunched over her slightly, which forced her lifted legs to spread wide. Krystal's already heated face flushed as the air was forced from her lungs a little. Her husband grinned as she opened her eyes a little, looking at him almost pleadingly. Then he shifted his knees slightly, so as to relieve some of the pressure, but he left enough so she remembered that he had her pinned. Then he began again. He made sure that every time he drove his length inside her, he drove the last few inches at full force, making her body jump in response, sending ripples thru the small pool of water building around them as they had lain on the drain.

Krystal gasped for air, her face heavily flushed. Her tongue hung limply from her smiling jaws.

"Ha! HA! MORE! MORE PLEASE!!!"

Fox laughed as sweat built on his brow and his eyes squeezed shut from the sensations flooding his mind, "Good God you're still tight."

The tightness he was working thru grew tremendously as Krystal screamed his name, arching her back as her orgasm rocked her body. Fox grunted and let himself go, hammering into her full force for a fem moments until he released for a second time. His climax forced him to fall forwards, his hands landing either side of Krystal's head. His afterglow fogged eyes met her's and he smiled.

"I love you", they said together.

Krystal sighed and gently rubbed one of her nipples, "I guess our plans worked out after all."

Fox laughed, "Are you kidding? We're foxes, we find a way to fuck…no matter what!"

Krystal giggled and reached up to rub his cheek, "How about we get out of the shower and continue this in a more comfortable place?"

Fox grinned, "Now that sounds like a plan…"

The next day…

Fox and Krystal stood in the hospital room, dressed in their best clothes. Baby Falco was wearing a loose fitting blue outfit, his scaled feet held in white booties. His bright green eyes wandered all over the room. Panther was also there, wearing a freshly pressed Starfox uniform. The same was said of Joanna and Alena, but Patricia was garbed in a hospital gown and sitting in a wheelchair, to which Alena held the handles. The rabbit also had numerous bandages all over her body, from the fur and skin grafts.

Floating in the stasis-pod in front of them was the mangled body of David Schwartz, the recently crowned Emperor. Over his short feline muzzle was a breathing apparatus that also contained a COM-Unit.

"Mr. McCloud", came his raspy voice thru a small speaker mounted on the pod's front.

Fox stepped forwards, "Sir?"

The battered and broken panther chuckled wearily, "I want to commend you and your team. You did a fine job yesterday. It was thanks to your swift actions that so many people survived this whole debacle."

Krystal gently bounced Falco as she said, "Pardon my interruption Your Excellency, but how did you survive?"

The floating feline took a ragged breath, "The chief of my personal bodyguard insisted that I wear personal shielding, because of all the threats. I was lucky, the blast was absorbed mostly by the shields, but I was thrown thru the air. The shield unit had burned out so I was completely vulnerable to whatever I hit, a hovercar and the front window of a store in this case, along with whatever merchandise happened to be in the way at the time."

The feline then turned back to Fox, "Mr. McCloud, I want you to know that I do not hold what happened yesterday against you."

Fox nodded curtly, "Thank you Sir."

"That being said", the Emperor continued, "You did still fail in this mission, your first if I remember correctly."

Fox swallowed and nodded again, "Yessir."

"Uh-huh. McCloud I'm to be released from this hospital in a month. I expect to see you and your associates here in my office at that time. Understand?"

Fox and the others nodded quietly.

"Very good. I shall send a courier with a more precise time. Until then."

He tipped his head in the tank and the others bowed to him, "Excellency."

They all filed out of that room, nervous at what was going to happen.

Panther was actually the most anxious, "You don't think he's gonna shut us down or anything do you?"

Fox rolled his eyes as they all stepped into an elevator, "No Panther, he can't do that it would violate the constitution."

The nervous black feline continued, "Or maybe he'll lock us up…have us executed…or Exiled!!!"

Fox had had enough, "Panther would you SHUT UP!"

The elevator grew quiet except for the sound of Falco crying, startled by his father's shout.

Fox turned around jabbed a finger into the black feline's chest, "Listen you! I don't want to hear another word out of your muzzle! You want to worry and panic, go home and do it to your girlfriend. But from now on you keep that shi…", Fox happened to see movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked down to see Falco clutching his mother's chest as he shivered in fright. His eyes were wide and locked on Fox's. The vulpine captain sighed and picked up where he left off, although he took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Just keep that kind of stuff to yourself Panther, cause we don't need to hear it."

Fox then turned and leant over slightly so he could kiss his son, "I'm sorry buddy", he whispered as he pressed his lips to that small feathered forehead. Tiny feathered hands gripped at his muzzle and squeezed him as tightly as they could, a sign that the infant forgave him. Fox smiled and rubbed his nose into one of those feathered palms. Fox gently took him from Krystal's arms and held him up in front of his face, rubbing his nose against the child's beak.

Falco giggled and gurgled as he playfully shied away from the wet black spot. The group got off when the elevator stopped at the lobby. Patricia and Alena walked them to the door.

"We'll see you all when I get out", Patricia said, a smile on the part of her face that they could see.

The others all said their goodbyes and headed off towards their respective vehicles, happy to be heading home…

**End Chapter Four**

**I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a douche for taking so long. But if you can find it in your hearts/lungs/spleens to forgive me I would greatly appreciate your reviews.**

**Also my spelling has been off as of late so if you could keep an eye out for little slips of that nature it would be most helpful.**

**Your friend-Undead Fox**


	5. Dealing With It

**Here we are. This chapter will be pretty short. I just figured we should all get a glimpse at one of Fox's sessions with good old Dr. Thompson.**

**Read. Review. OBEY!!!**

**P.S.: This chapter has some alcohol use/abuse, not sure which it qualifies as. Fair warning.**

**Starfox Evil Book II**

**Chapter Five: Dealing with it**

Two weeks go by…

Two o'clock in the morning, the television's automatic clock said. Fox sat there in a pair of dark blue pajama pants, mindlessly flipping thru channels, just as he'd done for the last hour. Finding that nothing was on he settled on simply watching an infomercial, which showed a pair of timber wolves selling swords of various kinds and styles at 'Rock bottom prices!'

"I call bullshit", Fox muttered tiredly. He reached for the tall bottle half-filled with amber liquid sitting on the short table in front of him. He took a swig from the bottle and coughed as the whiskey burned down his throat. He rubbed his temple, trying to get the nightmare out of his head. It had been a bad one…

Fox had been back in the hive, all alone. From all around he could hear the groans and snarls of the undead. He found himself walking down a long corridor, until he stopped in front of an open door. He turned slowly and walked into the dark room. As he passed thru the door, tank after tank lit up on either side of him, each filled with a clear fluid, and each housing a human. However, as he moved on there were fewer and fewer humans. Instead, there were Lylatians. Suddenly in front of him stood General McNeal. The general looked at him and said, "Soon."

That word echoed in Fox's mind several times as the general transformed again. Fox's heart beat fast and hard in his chest as the monster reached over and grabbed him by his throat.

…That had been when Fox woke to find himself near panic, cold sweat coating his body. He sat up and rubbed his face to find that his metal hand had clenched so hard the joints had locked up, forcing him to remove the appendage. He looked over his shoulder to see Krystal's bare back as she slept peacefully. He sighed and stood, gently dropping his metal hand onto the dresser, before making his way out into the den where he now sat, nursing a bottle of whiskey and feeling downright miserable. He put the bottle down and rubbed his face. However, he nearly jumped out of his fur when he felt a hand settle gently on his shoulder.

He looked up to see Krystal standing behind the sofa, her body wrapped in a white housecoat. The look on her face was one of sad understanding, but not pity. She had learned early on that Fox hated it when people showed pity for him.

"A pretty bad one", she asked, even though she already knew the answer, judging from the half-empty bottle of scotch.

Fox nodded, "Myeah", his speech was slurred, "I'mshorry. I gnow is jusht a dream."

Krystal sighed and shook her head, "C'mon baby. Let's go back to bed."

Her husband pushed himself upright, wobbling a bit. But he managed to get his balance and began to stagger towards the door, Krystal right beside him. She wasn't really surprised when he walked straight into the wall. Fox backed up slightly and shook his head.

Bad move.

"Woo boy", Fox mumbled right before he fell flat on his back.

Krystal sighed. She could count the number of times Fox had been actually drunk on one hand. She grasped his shoulder and helped him to his shaky feet, "Up we go."

Fox waved his stumped right arm in an attempt to steady himself. Once he was relatively stable, Krystal took hold of his shoulders and guided him down the hall, back to the bedroom, where he flopped down on the mattress and promptly fell into an alcohol-induced sleep, drooling heavily. Despite the circumstances, Krystal couldn't help but laugh quietly into her hand at her husband. She gently shifted him around until she could cover him up. She was pulling the robe off to climb back into bed when Falco started to cry.

The blue vixen dropped her head and rubbed her forehead, "Great", then she walked out the door muttering, "I'm coming."

She walked a short ways before turning into the nursery. She leaned over the crying infant's crib and gave a weary smile, "Hey sweetie", she gently picked him up and held him gently to her chest, cooing into his ear, "Easy now, Mommy's here Mommy's got you."

The infant continued to cry as she carried him down the hall to the kitchen, where she grabbed a pre-made bottle from the fridge. She sighed and placed it in the microwave as she gently bounced the infant on her shoulder, "Shhh shhh it's okay."

When the timer beeped, she pulled the bottle out and let a few drops of formula drip onto her wrist, where she determined it was an acceptable temperature before she offered it up to her blue-feathered child, "Here baby. Drink up."

The infant clamped his beak down on the rubber nipple and began to nurse hungrily. Krystal smiled down at him and ran her thumb gently over his cheek, "Good boy."

Falco looked up at her with bright eyes and smiled around the bottle. Krystal smiled back before she settled in a chair and leaned back.

The next thing she knew she felt the infant lifted from her hands. Her eyes snapped open and she saw a groggy Fox smiling at her.

"Hey", he said, his voice very gravely.

Krystal took a deep breath and yawned, "Morning", she saw his bloodshot eye and said, "Hangover?"

Fox sat Falco up on the counter and tickled the child's stomach with his one hand. Falco let out a high-pitched laugh. Fox smiled, but also winced as his head flared, "Ow."

Krystal stood up and rubbed his back, "You really shouldn't drink."

Fox nodded wearily, rubbing his son's head, "Yeah, I know."

Krystal turned to the fridge, intent on starting breakfast, when Fox gently grabbed her arm. She turned back to him and leaned on the counter so she could look him in the eye, "Yeah?"

Fox scratched Falco's chin, making the baby giggle, "Could you call Dr. Thompson for me?

Krystal nodded slowly, "Sure hon. I'll go do that."

As she walked away Fox reached over and grabbed the tall glass bottle he had picked up from the living room. He sloshed the liquid around inside before looking at his feathered son. The infant was watching the amber liquid with ignorant interest.

"Hey", Fox whispered, getting the baby's attention, "Little piece of advice buddy. Don't ever touch this stuff", Fox then sifted the both of them over until they were by the sink, where he poured the contents out, "It just makes things harder in the end."

Fox then picked his son up, his stumped arm settling under the boy's bottom as the strong left hand held his back. The child just burbled something and leaned forwards to squeeze Fox's neck. Then Fox heard a giggle. Fox turned to see Krystal leaning in the door.

"You have an appointment set for two."

Fox furrowed his brow, "Today?"

Krystal nodded, "Otherwise he was booked for the next month."

Fox sighed, "Fine", then he looked at the clock, seeing it was ten fifteen, "Wonderful. I've got enough time to, God I still can't get used to saying this, stop in at the office to check on things."

He then handed Falco off to his wife and pecked her on the cheek, "I'll be back later."

Krystal returned the light kiss, "Okay. Drive safe."

Fox arrived at Dr. Thompson's office an hour early. He walked up to the secretary and leaned on the desk, "Appointment for McCloud."

The young tabby looked up at him and smiled, "I'll tell Dr. Thompson right away Mr.…?"

"McCloud. And yes, I am."

Fox waited in the lobby for a while, until the raccoon came out himself.

"Fox! Nice to see you again."

Fox chuckled dryly and shook his hand, "Likewise, although I wish it weren't here."

The aging raccoon laughed quietly and placed an arm around Fox's shoulders, "Well why don't we step into my office and talk? I've got some tea I can put on."

The two walked inside and Fox sat down on the same leather couch he had sat on the last time he was there. He lay back and rested his head on the leather cushion. After a few minutes Dr. Thompson came over with a pair of steaming glasses, a tea bag hanging in each. Fox took the glass and sniffed the steaming liquid inside. Liking what he smelled he took the tea pouch and dropped it in a nearby trashcan before taking a sip. He looked up to catch the assessing gaze of his raccoon companion.

"So", Dr. Thompson said as he sat his glass down on the edge of his desk, "I can assume from the simple fact that you are here that you had a flash?"

Fox nodded, "A bad one. I was back in the hive…"

Dr. Thompson interrupted quickly, "Refresh my memory. That is the complex where you found the Jacksons and this Alice woman?"

Again Fox nodded, "Yeah", he took another drink, "As I was saying, I was back in the hive. I was all alone. I was walking down the hall. I entered a room. Inside were tanks, just rows and rows of tanks. In addition, in each tank was a human. But as I went further and further the humans were slowly replaced by Lylatians. Suddenly in front of me appeared General McNeal. Well actually, it was that monstrous form he took when I fought him two weeks ago. I'm sure you've seen it on the news. He only said one word, 'Soon'."

Dr. Thompson tapped a finger on his chin in thought, "Hmm. Was this the first time you've experienced this particular nightmare?"

Fox nodded, "Yeah."

The raccoon nodded, "Right. I think this is a good sign. You are getting thru the flashbacks and heading more into simple fears. That's why this dream took a turn away from your experiences on Earth, and into more close-knit subjects. The fact that it shifted from humans to Lylatians is no surprise, you are subconsciously worried that something like that will happen here."

Fox gave the doctor a look. It had been deemed classified information that Wesker was in Lylat, so it was no surprise that this raccoon was sure that there was no chance. The vulpine just quietly said, "Right."

Dr. Thompson smiled and walked over to Fox, "I know you don't like coming here. So how about this, if you ever need to talk to someone, and for whatever reason you can't tell your wife, just call my personal number. Anytime day or night and I will be there to listen."

Fox shook the raccoon's hand and smiled, "Thanks Doc. I appreciate it."

The raccoon grinned and motioned for the door, "You are quite welcome Fox. I'm sorry I couldn't give you more time but…"

Fox just raised his hand, "I understand, I came on really short notice", he stepped outside and gave a small wave over his shoulder, "I'll see you later."

With that, Fox left his problems behind, for the moment…

**End Chapter Five**


	6. Welcome Back

**Howdy. This is just a little friendly heads up, the next few chapters are going to be major time jumps, because if I tried to stick to the timeline it would take forever and a day to get thru it all.**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Six**

**Welcome Back**

Two weeks later…

Fox, Panther, Joanna, Alena and Patricia were all waiting in the Emperor's office. They were all reasonably calm, despite an air of nervousness. Even Panther, who had been freaking out a month ago at the very prospect of standing where he now was, was simply leaning against a wall, arms crossed and head down, breathing normally.

In fact, if any of them had a reason to be overly anxious it was Fox, because only the day before he and Krystal had gotten the news that they would be having a young boy or girl in the next seven to ten months…

…When the doctor had said that Fox had said, "Seven to ten? Not to sound like an ass but don't pregnancies last nine?"

Krystal had patted his hand and said, "Well Cerinian pregnancies only last six months", Krystal sighed, a slight sadness in her tone as she said, "And being the last Cerinian and the only one known to try and crossbreed off-planet, the doctor is just trying to give a reasonable range for preparation."

The doctor nodded, "Your wife is correct Mr. McCloud. Though she said you've been trying for a while, your wife thinks that the child was conceived around twenty-five days ago. And the baby is already fairly developed. Fox started to open his mouth again but the doctor raised his hand, "Don't worry. The baby will be fine. So long as we keep an active and consistent track of it's development…"

…Fox was snapped out of his reverie literally, a pair of white furred fingers snapping in front of his vision.

"Hey! Zoner! He's here!"

Fox blinked and looked at Joanna, who had got his attention. Then he looked where she was pointing. Into the room walked Emperor David, aided by a simple dark wood cane and an attendant. The panther still had bandages on him in places, but otherwise looked good as new, his black fur shining in the light, and his eyes bright. The panther tried to shake his attendant off, "Would you leave me be already?! You've done your job!"

The wolf of about twenty who had come in with him looked at the others nervously as he whispered, "B-but Sire! I am obligated to stay by your side in order to ensure that you are well looked after…"

The black feline snapped at the younger male, "Dammit I'm not an invalid! I can look after myself. Now get out of my office, I've got business to discuss with these fine people. People you've kept waiting by fawning over me like a mother bird!"

The wolf babbled as Alena snorted, trying not to laugh, the others snickering into their hands or chuckling quietly, "B-b-but Sir! I…!"

"GET THE HELL OUT!!!!"

The panther's roar startled the lupine enough that he fell backwards onto his backside before he scrambled out the door, tail tucked tightly between his legs. Now all the others openly laughed, finding the sudden outburst a good break from the silent tension they had dealt with waiting for their leader and ruler.

The Emperor sighed and rubbed his head, "He means well, but what a pain. I don't need him nagging over me all day", then he turned to the others and laced his fingers, "Ladies and gentlemen. I've been waiting for today. It's time you got what was coming to you for your failed attempt at my protection."

The five mercenaries all stood straight at attention. Then Fox stepped up in front of the feline's desk, "Sire as the leader I take full responsibility for…"

"Be quiet!"

Fox snapped his jaw shut. He grew slightly nervous as his eyes rested on the feline's face. Maybe Panther had been right, maybe the emperor would do something drastic as punishment. Fox swallowed when the emperor said, "You might want to close your eyes."

Fox took a deep breath and did as he was told. He heard the smooth sound of wood sliding on wood, the opening of a drawer. Then he felt something settled around his neck. Then he heard his teammates give a sigh of relief. Fox opened his eyes and saw David's smiling face, "Yes you failed to protect me. Nevertheless, you succeeded in saving countless lives, and stopped a very serious threat by killing General McNeal. This empire is indebted to you", he looked at the others, "To all of you", he looked back at Fox. He raised his right hand up in a salute but grimaced when his arm refused to go further up than his jaw. Fox saw this discomfort and quickly snapped to attention. The panther smiled and shifted his arm to extend his hand. Fox shook it.

"Thank you sir."

The panther tapped the medal he had hung on Fox's neck with a sharp feline claw, "No. Thank **you**."

Then he picked up another four spread out on his desk and walked around his desk. He settled each medal around a neck, shaking their hands respectively before he moved to take his place back behind the large desk. He dropped in the seat and wiped his forehead, where his fur had grown damp with perspiration, "Whew. I didn't think lifting those medals would take _**that**_ much out of me."

Fox gestured to the emperor's shoulder, "What's the matter with your arm?"

The panther arched his brow at the tan vulpine, "Bone fragment. The doctors couldn't get to it without doing permanent damage to my muscle structure, and I didn't want cybernetic replacements, no offence."

Fox waved it off, "None taken Sir. If I could choose I'd rather have my own hand and eye back as well."

"Quite", David chuckled, "Now there is one other thing I wanted you all here for, other than to get you worried over nothing", he flashed a cheeky grin, "And that is to introduce you to McNeal's replacement", he pressed a button on the desk and the door opened, and Fox's jaw went slack.

For in walked none other than…

"Peppy?"

The old rabbit blinked, "Hey. Surprised to see meOOF!!"

The lapine had the wind knocked out of him as Fox practically tackled him, hugging him fiercely, "How? I was told you died…"

David cleared his throat, "That would be my father's fault actually", he suddenly grew serious, "What I'm about to say never leaves this room."

The others nodded, curiosity on their faces.

"When you all got back, my father decided to look into the T-Virus, so he had some samples made…"

These words shocked everyone, even Fox, who had been happily embracing his old friend and godfather. Now he practically jumped back, "W-what!?! You can't be serious!!"

David raised his hands defensivly, "Solely from a medical standpoint! The samples that had been cultured were very weak doses. It had been found that the virus, when kept in check, had tremendous healing potential. Peppy is the proof of that!"

"So why", Fox growled. He slammed his hands down on the desktop, the metal right one digging into the surface, "Why keep it a secret?"

David swallowed, he had heard about the people that got on Fox's bad side. Nevertheless, he kept his calm, "Remember who you're talking to Fox", the feline adjusted the collar of his shirt as the mercenary continued to glare at him, "**I** didn't keep him a secret…my father did. He wanted to be sure that it was a viable form of treatment, and it is. But it obviously has risks, **enormous** risks. But my father was a bit stubborn, so he picked the most hopeless cases and moved them to a private lab. Obviously he ordered the subjects declared dead so that if they died from the procedure there would be no red tape leading back to him. When I was in the hospital recovering my father's old personal assistant handed me a dataPAD, with the entire file on it. He told me that my father was a fool for starting the program, but he needed my authorization to close it down. As I read thru the file I found that all the subjects were back to full health, and in some cases, like Peppy, they had become even healthier. They were nearing the end of experimental faze, before the program was to go public, so I simply released them before I closed it down."

Fox let up with the glare, standing upright and moving back over to Peppy's side. The hare looked Fox over and said, "I understand why you're anxious Fox. The Emperor told me what this stuff in me could have done. So I understand completely that you don't trust me. Hell **I** wouldn't trust me if I were in your place."

Fox let a small smile grown on his face as he settled his left hand onto the grey hare's shoulder and squeezed gently, "No. I trust you Peppy. Believe me, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't", he turned back to David, "Are there any samples left?"

"I followed advice of the Queens. They are on an unmanned barge being escorted into the sun as we speak. But I kept an ample supply of anti-virus, just in case."

Then he stood up and clapped his hands together, "Now I'm sure you all have plans for the rest of the day and I've got paperwork to catch up on. So I will see you all another time", he looked at Peppy, "I'll need to see you again in three days Peppy. Say around four?"

The hare nodded, "I'll be there Sir."

Several hours later…

Krystal sighed, rubbing over her stomach as she sat in the living room watching television with Falco, some children's cartoon. The vixen smiled at the young gryphon watched the animated figures moving around on the screen.

Just then she felt Fox come home, his hovercar landing in the driveway. But it was odd, there was someone with him. She stood up and scooped up Falco as she headed into the main hall, "Fox?"

Her husband stepped thru the door, a smile on his face as he saw his son waving happily at him, gurgling, "Dadadada!"

Fox arched a brow as he took the child and looked at Krystal, "When did he start that?"

Krystal grinned, "Right after you left. He just started babbling like a br…"

Krystal stopped mid-syllable as she saw Peppy step thru the door. The hare saw the surprised look on her face. He smiled gently at her and said, "Hey kiddo."

The vixen's face slowly morphed into a smile and tears sprung in her eyes. She covered her mouth to hold back a happy cry.

"Oh my God", she said, her voice muffled by her hand.

Fox held Falco on his hip and stepped to the side, which allowed Krystal to run forwards and throw her arms around Peppy's neck, hitting him hard enough to knock him back against the wall.

"Hey! Easy now", Peppy laughed, "I'm an old man y'know!"

Krystal laughed as those tears ran down her face. After she let go Fox walked over to Peppy and bounced the infant in his arms, "Peppy, say hello to your grandson Falco."

Later that night, they were all sitting at the dining room table after Fox and Peppy had explained the rabbit's situation to Krystal…

"Well look", the blue vixen said, "I don't care how they did it. I'm just glad they brought Peppy back to us."

Peppy smiled and patted her hand, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Krystal smiled back, "I don't normally say this but I think the means justify the end in this case."

Then Peppy sighed, "So what now?"

Fox arched a brow and leaned back in his chair, "What do you mean?"

"I mean where am I gonna go? When the last emperor placed me in that program and had me declared dead I hadn't written a will, so the government claimed pretty much everything I owned. Emperor David managed to get me some of it back, but my apartment has already been filled, and a lot of my belongings resold at auction, probably to collectors."

Fox chuckled, "Well that's obvious. You're going to live here", Peppy turned and started to speak but Fox said, "I know, you don't want to be a burden. Trust me you're not. And if you want we can still get you a new apartment."

Peppy chuckled, "Actually I was going to say where do I sleep."

Fox lightly slapped a hand over his forehead and chuckled, "Oh. Right this way."

Bright and early the next morning saw Fox walking in to the small holo-suite he had installed so that he wouldn't' have to go to a gym to get a workout.

Strapping on a pair of weighted wristbands he said, "Computer activate program SPAR-3."

The blank white walls shifted and distorted until an octagon shaped cage appeared. A black furred wolf wearing bright red shorts appeared, standing an easy six foot six and weighing easily two hundred forty pounds. He noticed Fox and waved his gloved hand, gesturing for the vulpine to enter the ring. Fox wrapped his hands in bandages, to ensure he didn't cut up his knuckles, before he hopped the cage and walked up to his lupine opponent. A large timer appeared on the wall and five minutes popped up on it. Fox turned slightly to the side as he and the wolf squared off, both raising their hands into proper place.

Then the buzzer rang. Fox was the first to strike, throwing his left fist straight out in a jab, quickly following it up with a right hook. The wolf blocked both punches and countered with a hard knee to Fox's gut. The blow momentarily winded the vulpine. To keep the wolf from hitting him further Fox dropped low and tackled the wolf to the ground, where he wrapped him up, sliding both of his arms under the wolf's shoulders and then lacing his fingers over his neck and flexing his biceps, putting pressure on the wolf's windpipe while forcing him to bend backwards. The black lupine's eyes bulged and his fingers struggled to grab Fox's.

Slowly though, those black fingers weakened and the wolf gurgled as the breath was stopped in his throat. Fox shifted his grip slightly and gave a powerful jerk down, snapping the wolf's spine. When the wolf went, limp Fox dropped the body to the mat and took a deep breath, linking his hands in front of his chest and bowing to his opponent. He looked at the clock.

3:14

It took Fox just under two minutes to neutralize the wolf. Fox sighed and cracked his neck, "Reset. Increase difficulty twenty percent."

The wolf on the ground suddenly jumped to his feet. He growled and raised his fists again. Fox turned to face him and did the same.

After another hour, the wolf dropped for the sixth and final time that day, battered and broken. Fox breathed heavily, bruises blotching his skin under his fur and a small trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He walked over to a bench, picked up a towel, and patted his face.

"Not bad Fox."

The vulpine gave a soft chuckle, "How long have you been there Peppy?"

The rabbit waited for Fox to face him before continuing, "Only a few minutes. Those were some pretty impressive moves Fox", he smiled and walked over to him.

Fox smiled and scratched at the back of his neck, "Thanks Peppy. You know it's almost weird having you back. Not to be rude mind you! But I mean you were basically a mindless husk in a tube of snot for two years and", he just happened to catch the mildly offended look in Peppy's eyes and snapped his mouth shut, "Right. Sorry."

Peppy just chuckled, "Don't apologize. I get what you're trying to say. And you're right, it is going to be hard, getting used to my being around again."

There was a bit of an awkward pause before Fox said, "So what did you need anyway?"

Peppy snapped his fingers, "Oh right! Krystal sent me down here to tell you breakfast was ready."

Fox smiled fondly, his tongue sticking out the side of his muzzle a bit, as he said, "Ah breakfast! My favorite meal!"

The hare beside him laughed, "It always has been Fox. Why I remember when you were just a kit…"

They headed for the dining room and their first meal with the four of them, as one whole family.

**End Chapter Six**


	7. Time Has Come

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Seven: Time Has Come**

Ten years later…

Fox held his gloved hands up in front of his chest, "C'mon. You can do better than that."

His opponent, a ten year old Falco, brought his own gloved hands up, turning slightly to the side in his favorite boxing stance. Fox smirked at the calculating gaze in his son's eyes, the boy was growing up so smart. Fox remembered back a few years…

Fox had gotten a call at work from the local school's principal.

"Mr. McCloud?"

Fox didn't look up from the reports he was going thru as he answered the hologram, "Yes? What can I do for you?"

"I'm Sheryl Copper, principal at District fourteen elementary school. This is about Falco…"

Fox stopped typing mid-word and looked at the small hologram, seeing an orange furred tabby cat, "What about Falco?"

The small feline coughed into her hand from the intense look Fox gave her, "Uh-hum! Uh Falco and another student got in a fist fight today. Now that in itself wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Falco bit the boy, took a pretty nasty chunk out of his shoulder. And he won't tell us why. Because of this we feel it is necessary that the boy be given a psychological evaluation. And until he get's one he is banned from school premises."

Fox spluttered, "I can't believe what I'm hearing", then he rubbed his temple and sighed, "I'll be right there."

Twenty minutes later Fox walked calmly into the principal's office. On either side of the small room was a bench, and each bench held one occupant, one a black and white feline boy of about nine, who had a large white bandage wrapped around his arm. The other bench held a very nervous looking eight year old Falco McCloud. The blue feathered boy gulped when he saw the angry look on his father's face.

Just then the woman who Fox recognized as the principal stepped thru a door nearby.

"Mr. McCloud. Under better circumstances I'd say it was nice to see you."

Fox shook her hand and said, "Likewise Miss Copper", he looked back over at his son, "Shall we get this over with?"

He was lead into the small office where he signed a few forms before he walked back out into the waiting area, where Falco was already standing by the door with his head down and fidgeting nervously from foot to foot. Fox firmly placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Let's go", as they exited the building he said, "You've got some explaining to do young man."

Falco climbed into the hovercar. As they flew away Fox snapped, "Well? Are you going to say anything?"

The boy crossed his blue feathered arms and mumbled, "He called me a liar."

"What", Fox snapped, disbelieving.

"He said I was lying when I told him you were my dad", as he continued Fox's face softened, "He yelled at me and said I was lying. He said that kids have to look like their parents. So I yelled that you were my father. He said I was full of crap and hit me in the face so I tackled him. We rolled around for a bit and then he scratched me. I guess that's when I bit him. Then the security guard came over and split us up."

Fox dropped the car down to surface level and pulled into the garage back home. Before he even said anything Falco said, "He's wrong right?"

"What", Fox asked as he locked the controls.

"When he said that stuff…he was lying right?"

Fox sighed and slumped down in his seat, "Falco listen…"

Falco however immediately began to tear up, "Tell me he was lying Dad. Tell me he was lyin'! Please!"

Fox couldn't even look at the boy as he said, "Krystal and I are not your real parents. Your biological father died on an old mission with me, and your mother died when you were born."

Tears ran down Falco's feathered cheeks as he cried, "No! No you're wrong!"

Finally Fox looked at him, "Falco listen…"

However he was interrupted by the boy shoving open the door and running across the tarmac towards the pristine miniature forest that Fox's great grandfather had planted and populated when he purchased the land.

Fox jumped out of the car and shouted, "FALCO!!!"

It was then Krystal came tearing out of the house, wearing a grey skirted business suit with a dark red blouse under the jacket. As her bare feet slapped to a stop on the pavement she said, "Fox what happened? I felt Falco was in pain and then you started shouting."

Fox felt his own tears run down his left cheek, "He asked me _The_ question."

Krystal breathed out, "Oh", before she started hopping from foot to foot, the processed stone underfoot was scalding in the midday sun, "OUCH! OOH! Well what ouch!… what did you say? OW!"

As his wife hopped over to the nearest patch of grass Fox said, "The truth. I didn't say specifically how Falco and Katt died, but I did tell him that they had."

'Well', Krystal thought to him as she ran inside to get her shoes, "Go on after him. I'll catch up."

As she hopped back out yanking on one sneaker Fox shook his head, "No you've got a shoot today", Krystal started to speak but Fox raised his hands to stop her, "I'll handle this."

Krystal gave a soft lopsided smile and nodded as she headed towards her own car, glad that she was doing shoes today and they would be giving her a pair to model. Meanwhile Fox headed off in the same direction young Falco had run, he had a pretty good idea where the boy was headed. Fox wove his way thru the trees, over a narrow bridge towards the small pond he kept stocked with fish. He had brought Falco out here many times, either just the two of them or with Peppy tagging along. This was their 'guys only' place.

He stopped suddenly when he heard a sniffle. Poking his head out of the bushes he saw Falco sitting on a rock, looking out over the water. Tentatively he stepped out, whispering, "Falco?

The boy didn't look at him, just said, "Why? Why did they have to die? I never even got to know them."

Fox sighed, "I don't know."

Falco sniffed and wiped his cheeks, "So he was right? We aren't family?"

Fox snapped, a little harsher than he'd intended, "No!"

He closed his eyes and sighed as he said, "That boy was dead wrong", Fox sat down next to the boy and clasped his hands in his lap, "Just because you aren't related by blood doesn't mean you're not family. I mean, look at Peppy and me. We're not related in the slightest. But because he was my father's best friend in life he looked after me when Dad died. He was always there when I needed him and that makes him family. Heck your mother and father were like the brother and sister I never could have."

Fox paused for a second to catch his breath, "Krystal and I love you Falco, as if you were our own flesh and blood, and nothing will ever…EVER, change that. No matter what happens…we're family."

The boy sniffed and wiped his eyes. They he leaned over and hugged Fox, "I'm sorry Dad."

Fox settled his arm around his son's shoulders, making sure to be gentle with his metal hand, "Love ya kiddo."

…Fox snapped out of his flashback just in time to duck under Falco's right hook. The ten year old followed up by swinging his fist back around, trying to catch him with a powerful backfist. Fox snapped his right hand up to catch it at the wrist before throwing out his left, stopping just shy of plowing straight into Falco's forehead.

"You left yourself wide open", he said as he lowered his hand.

Falco panted, out of breath as he said, "Look down."

Fox glanced down to see his son's pink furred foot stopped just shy of his solar-plexus. The forty year old vulpine smirked, "Maybe not", they separated and bowed to each other. Then Fox clapped the boy on the back and said, "Your getting better."

"Well I've got the best teacher", he said as Fox ruffled his head feathers.

Just then in came running a short blue vixen of about five, her arms out in front of her and a smile on her face as she shrieked, "DAAAADY!!!!"

Fox gave her a stern look, "Now Emily, what have you been told about yelling in the house?"

The girl held her hands behind her back and scuffed at the floor with a sneakered foot, "Sorry Daddy", she mumbled before looking at her father with an adorable pout on her face.

Fox laughed and scooped her up, "S'alright kiddo. So whatcha need?"

The girl giggled as Fox tickled her chin, "Mommy says dinner's ready."

Fox smiled at his daughter. She looked so much like her mother, just like her older sister would have. They'd named her Vanessa, and she'd only experienced two years of her life before it was snuffed out by a drunk driver. Her young death still had Krystal scarred and depressed.

When they entered the dining room they found Peppy already at the table, a long-necked green bottle in hand.

"There you guys are", he said as he took a drink form his beer, "So you done whippin' your kid's behind Fox?"

The vulpine chuckled and patted Falco's shoulder, "Boy's getting' good. He almost had me this time."

As they sat down to dinner…

A long ways away, in the abandoned Sargasso space station. An iguana in battered black body armor walked thru the battle scarred hallways. Stopping at a pair of large double doors he straightened himself and waited.

"Enter!"

He quickly stepped inside and walked towards the figure standing, watching out one of the large viewports.

"My lord", he said, "Preparations are finally complete. We may begin whenever you are ready."

The figure looked over his shoulder at the scaled man, "Then get to it. Time for my revenge."

The iguana saluted and said, "Yes Lord Wesker!"

As he left the room Wesker looked back out the window whispering to himself, "The time has come Fox…The time has come."

After a moment he chuckled, "Lord Wesker…I like the sound of that."

**End Chapter Seven**


	8. Resurrection of a Nightmare

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Eight: Resurrection of a Nightmare**

**WARNING: This chapter has implied sex and various forms of nudity. Just so's you know.**

**Also, Merry Christmas everybody. And for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, then happy holidays.**

Orbital defense station _Orion_ above Papetoon…

Two Star General Robert James Angus stood on the main command deck of the newly built Orion defense station. He smiled as he watched his command crew move about their appointed tasks as the massive platform came to life for the day.

"Systems' check", he said as he swished his mug of coffee.

The chief engineer spoke up first, "Core's at optimum efficiency General Sir. Environmental systems operating normally. Auxiliary power on standby."

Then Tactics, "Primary cannons two and three on standby. Number one at stage one readiness. Point defense turrets on standby. Shields…thirty percent."

Angus walked over to his tactical officer and took a sip from his steaming mug, "I'm new to commanding orbital guns Jackson so enlighten me…", he took another drink, "Mm good coffee… tell me, why have this station running at one third it's defensive capabilities?"

The cheetah straightened to attention as he said, "its standard procedure Sir. We aren't at war now, but the brass doesn't want another incident like with the Zeus stations during the Aparoids incident. With one supernova cannon and point defense on standby, it is believed that we would adequately be able to defend the planet and ourselves 'til cannons two and three came online", the commander smiled, "And once that happens, nothing gets past us in one piece."

The bull chuckled, "Very good commander", he tipped his mug back to find it empty, "It appears I'm empty. I'm going to the mess for a refill. You have the bridge 'til I'm back commander."

Again, the cheetah smiled, a little wider this time, "Yes Sir!"

Angus stepped into the turbo-lift and said, "Deck four."

As the doors slid shut the communications officer, who hadn't had a chance to give his morning report yet, said, "Commander?"

The cheetah looked over at his subordinate, "What is it Joseph?"

"We've got a transmission coming in. A cargo freighter is requesting emergency docking clearance."

The commander left his station to move to the hyena's side, "Bring up the info."

As the information scrolled across the screen, the commander arched a brow, "Huh. Not much of a freighter, only enough room to carry one canister", he looked over the small image before finally saying, "Fine. Give them clearance for landing bay one and alert security."

"Yes sir", then he turned and opened a channel to the ship, "Freighter Rockhound, you have permission to dock…"

Deck eight-Security command

The alarm blared and the off-duty marines stationed on-board jumped into action, quickly strapping on body armor and running to the armory to grab their weapons. Leading them was a certain seven foot four inch tall, four hundred fifty pounds of muscle chestnut stallion, with a gold master sergeant's insignia on his shoulder.

"Come on ladies! Move your asses", Master Sergeant John McClain shouted at the soldiers under his command.

"Yes Master Sergeant", they all shouted back.

John sighed, he would have to get stuck leading a bunch of greenhorns. Still, at least he got his commission back; after it was determined that McNeal had given the order to discharge him and the other Hellraisers ten years ago. Most of them had adopted civilian life, getting normal day-jobs. Several even wound up working for Starfox, or so he'd heard. It had been a while since he'd been back to Cornaria, instead opting to go to Papetoon after they'd gotten back. He'd dropped out of contact with pretty much everyone after that. Then he was sent up to the Orion, only his second security detail, and his first command.

He was snapped out of his reverie by his second in command snapping to attention in front of him, "Sergeant McClain?"

John shook his large head, "Let's get going."

The ten soldiers marched out into the corridor and down to the cargo bay. The massive room was filled with several AR-wing fighters and twin seated KI-wing interceptors.

A/N: It's pronounced like key-wing, KI-wing

Across the massive hanger doors was a shimmering blue containment field. Thru the blue energy they could all see a large box shaped vessel coming in to port. As it fazed thru the field there was a quick burst of violent wind as the vacuum was briefly broke, but the artificial gravity kept everyone in place. As the vessel settled in place, the marines raised their new CEB-8s into ready positions, not really aiming them, but ready to snap them up at a moment's notice. Then a scientist came walking up to them, a data-PAD in hand. The cockpit hatch on the frigate popped open and the reptilian pilot climbed out. His jumpsuit was singed and there was soot all over his scaled face.

"Thank you very much", he said. Reaching back into the cockpit he flipped a switch and the doors on his cargo pod opened, "Just let me get my tools and we can get this over with."

The pilot quickly ducked inside and came back out with a large metal case in his hands before moving to his starboard engine nacelle. Popping the case open, he grabbed a magnetic drill and placed the bit against a bolt on the side of the engine. He quickly removed a panel and the components inside sparked and smoke billowed out. The pilot cursed in saurian and said, "Can one of you guys hand me that plasma torch?"

As his work drew to a close there came a loud crash from inside the pod. The marines snapped their weapons up out of reflex, "What was that", someone shouted.

The pilot slapped the covering back on his engine as he said, "Probably just some of my cargo falling over. Got a bunch of raw ore from Venom going to a refinery on Cornaria. Stuff's not exactly stackable you know."

The pilot thanked them and tossed his toolbox back inside before locking the doors and hopping back into the cockpit before he took off, leaving the spaceport behind.

As he neared the warp gate to Cornaria, he typed a command into the computer.

"Auto-pilot engaged."

The pilot scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Better get ready."

He opened the interior hatch for the cargo hold and stepped thru. Lining the walls were cages, and in each cage was a person, all Lylatian. He smirked when one slammed against the force field door, "Nice try duechebag."

He felt the slight shift in gravity that meant the ship had entered the warp gate, knowing it would only take a few moments to get to Cornaria. Walking over to a panel he typed in a command and Wesker's face popped up, "Is it ready", the human asked.

The reptile nodded, "Yes Lord Wesker. The autopilot is engaged and all that is left is for me to leave."

Wesker smiled, "Good", then he looked off-screen and suddenly the ship started to go dark.

The pilot looked around in surprise, "My Lord we've got a problem! I'm losing power! I…wait", he craned his head to the side and listened, "The afterburners kicked on. I don't understand."

Then Wesker's voice appeared in his mind. All he said was, "I know."

Then the pilot's eyes widened in fear as he heard a shuffling behind him, and he screamed as he felt something grab him and searing pain in the side of his neck…

Lieutenant Colonel James Anderson, a black wolf and the beta shift commanding officer aboard the Orbital defense station Gateway in orbit above Cornaria, sat calmly in the command chair in the center of the small bridge. The station was over forty years old and not nearly as big as her younger sister Orion, only having one gun, minimal point defense, and only enough capacity to hold two crew shifts of twenty people each, four AR- wings and two KI-wings along with their respective crews, totaling another twenty-three people. The station was named such because it orbited above Gateway City, which housed the largest civilian spaceport on the surface, although many orbital stations did have civilian populations.

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson relaxed in his chair, slouching down slightly, glad that his shift was almost over. Just then however an alarm started blaring.

"What the hell", the black wolf shouted as he snapped to his feet.

His tactics officer answered, "Sir. It's just an unscheduled jump thru the warp gate. Coming from Papetoon."

The wolf ran his hand thru his short cut black hair, "Right. Open a COM channel. Better find out what going on."

On the relatively small view screen an image of the ship appeared as the onboard computer said in a monotone voice, "United Lylatian Starship…type Crane. Model…five. Designation…Rockhound. Threat level…moderate."

The colonel arched a brow and thought, "Moderate? That thing's almost as old as the Gateway herself. With our upgrades we'd tear that thing apart before the other stations even knew there was a problem", then he cleared his throat, "ULS Rockhound. This is the Gateway orbital defense station. Why is your jump unscheduled?"

No response…

Anderson looked at the COMs officer who shrugged, "Lines're clear sir."

The colonel narrowed his eyes as he turned back to the screen, "Rockhound. If you do not respond you will be boarded…is that understood?"

Just then, the image of the ship changed, all the power went out on the vessel. The tactical officer shouted, "Sir! I'm seeing what could be a terminal core breach! Unless the crew finds a way to dump that power they're gonna be fried! And they're close enough we'll go with them!"

Colonel Anderson ran to his chair and swung the consol onto his lap, which activated the emergency helm controls. As he furiously typed commands he shouted to the computer, "Give me an aggressive scan of that clunker now! Tactics! How long till they blow?"

"Twenty seconds!"

The computer responded next, flashing up detailed statistics and information on the Rockhound. The Colonel's eyes widened, "So that's why you said she was a threat… four meter thick front armor plating, brand new shield upgrades, a mark IX plasma induction reactor, and twin Hermes afterburners. Gods that thing is built for ramming."

By that time, he had finished typing and the station began to fire its maneuvering thrusters. And to everyone's horror, the ship tracked them, moving so its nose stayed pointed right at them. Suddenly all that power they'd been watching rise was suddenly dumped right into the afterburners, and the Rockhound launched straight for the station.

"Collision warning", the computer stated, "Forty-five seconds to impact."

Lieutenant Colonel Jackson slapped his hand down on the flashing emergency symbol on his console and shouted, "All hands abandon the station", and then he turned to tactics, "Charge the main gun now! Get as much juice as you can dumped into that thing now!"

"Forty seconds to impact."

The tactical officer typed in commands and the lights dimmed as he pulled power from them to charge the station's main gun, which had been upgraded to match the power output of the newer models. Two hundred thousand terawatts of plasma energy were building much faster that the system was intended as the Rockhound raced towards them.

"Warning. Twenty seconds to impact."

"Dammit commander!"

"She's charging as fast as I can make her Sir!"

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven."

The colonel hit the COM switch again, "All hands brace for impact!"

"Four. Three."

The tactics officer shouted, "Full charge!"

As he threw his hand down to fire the gun, the Rockhound hit.

The station's thruster's had moved them enough so that it wasn't a direct hit, but it still knocked the station off it's orbit and the platform began a chaotic tumble towards the planet's surface, it's crew condemned to an early demise. Meanwhile the critically damaged ship's afterburners continued to fire, rocketing the ship into the atmosphere.

On the surface, Gateway City spaceport control tower…

Alarms were blaring as people ran about in a mild panic, trying to find out what was going on.

"What's going on", a wolf shouted.

"We've got two incoming objects", his female feline companion responded, "The smaller is changing direction, heading towards Cornaria City. The larger is headed…", she paused as the sky outside suddenly grew brighter, "Right for us."

Cornaria City outskirts, McCloud residence…

Fox smiled as Krystal straddled his lap and leaned against his chest to catch her breath, her bare body just as drenched in sweat as his as they sat on the sofa, recovering from their recent erotic activities. The blue vixen let out a sudden gasp as she felt his softening length slip from her body, "Oh! Oooooh…"

Fox grinned and cupped her breasts, squeezing gently as he said, "Remind me to thank Fara and Panther for watching the kids today."

Krystal smiled and ground herself against his crotch, "Yeah. Now how about we go for a soak in the hot tub?"

Fox grinned wide from ear to ear, "If you think you can make it to the hot tub."

Just as she hopped from his lap Fox's COM went off and Panther's head popped into miniature view, "Fox! There's aHOLY SMOKES!"

Krystal quickly dove behind the couch and Fox grabbed a throw pillow and placed it in his lap, "Panther. Grateful as I am for you and Fara watching the kids…"

"Fox listen", Panthers tried to interrupt.

"You really do have terrible timing and…"

"FOX!"

The vulpine stopped as he realized he'd begun to ramble, "What?"

Panther swallowed hard, "Fox, turn on the news."

Fox grabbed the remote and the face of a female snow leopard in a brown suit appeared on the display.

"…As you can see here there has been a massive impact in Cornaria City Central Park. The vessel has been reported as being the Venomian freighter Rockhound. It is as yet unclear why the vessel crashed, but it is known that before entering the atmosphere it first struck the Gateway orbital defense station, which crashed into Gateway City Spaceport, demolishing most of the complex, injuring dozens."

There was the scream of sirens and several police cruisers touched down nearby, along with ambulances and emergency services.

"Emergency services and law enforcement are here. They appear to be clearing the area for containment and processing…"

In that time, Krystal had gone and gotten robes for both her and Fox. Panther had disappeared, leaving only a blue haze, which signaled he had stepped away from the COM.

Suddenly a small blue vixen popped into place, "Hi Daddy!"

Fox shifted his gaze to the image of his daughter, "Hey Sweetie. How're you doin'?"

The girl scratched one of her ears as she said, "There was a really big boom Daddy. It shook the whole apartment!"

Fox nodded, "I believe it", then he leaned towards the image a little, "How's your brother?"

The miniature girl pointed off camera, "Falco's lookin' at all the cops down the street."

Fox gave her a fatherly look, "Emily. They are police officers…not cops."

The girl looked down at her feet, "Yes Daddy."

Just then, there came the sound of a scream from the news hologram, which was quickly echoed by a muted one on the COM. Fox's eyes snapped back to the larger image as the reporter came back into view. She was standing there holding her chest and breathing hard as the sound of several others laughing quietly could be heard in the background. Behind the feline was a control panel that had recently blown out.

"Sorry about that viewers, but the bang startled me", she glared at someone off-camera, "Shut up Charles. Ahem! As I said before though…we, and therefore you the viewers, are being allowed inside the Rockhound, for a closer look and…"

There was a shuffling noise and a moan. The camera snapped in that direction and several officers came into view, each drawing their blasters out of instinct. Lying against the mangled bulkhead was an iguana who was soaked in blood. Judging by his jumpsuit it was clear he was the pilot. The scaled man squirmed underneath a cargo container that had fallen on him, thrashing violently as his eyes locked on the uniformed peacekeepers as they drew up to him. As two knelt down by his side he latched his hands onto the closest one's arm. That one grasped his hand and said, "Don't worry. We'll get you out", he leaned in slightly to look over the scaled man's wounds as his partner tried to shift the heavy piece of equipment from his torso, "It's weird. These wounds almost look like…"

Just as he said that last word, the second officer managed to move the pinning piece of equipment. In that moment the pilot lunged forwards and sank his teeth into the first officer's exposed neckline, twisting to the side and ripping out his throat.

Fox jumped to his feet, his eyes flying wide as he watched the pilot throw the dying officer aside and jump to his feet.

Off to the side the image of Emily showed the young vixen shriek and grab the sides of her head. Fox gaped as he watched the pilot snarl at the second officer, who had drawn his blaster and had it leveled at the scaled man.

"Hold it right there", the scaled man snarled and shuffled forwards slightly. The officer growled, "You make one more move and you take a dirt nap."

The reptile responded by taking a step forwards. The officer responded by firing two shots. Both hit dead center, blowing holes in the scaled man's chest. However, he just snarled and kept coming.

By this point the camera was shaking profusely, the cameraman clearly scared out of his mind. Suddenly the sound of the reporter screaming again forced the camera to snap a one-eighty, suddenly displaying the first officer chewing on the snow leopard's shoulder. The image suddenly shook violently as the camera was dropped, now showing three sets of feet as the cameraman struggled to save his colleague.

By this point Fox wasn't even watching anymore. He and Krystal had refocused his attention on the COM.

"Emily? Emily sweetie! Talk to me", the blue vixen pleaded.

Just then, Fara's head popped into view, "Emily's passed out. We're taking her to the hospital."

"Right", Fox said, "We'll meet you there."

Fox closed the link and snatched up his COM before running back to their bedroom, Krystal right behind him. They both quickly dressed in their old Starfox uniforms, grateful they still fit. Fox strapped a CEB-7 to his belt and his old combat knife to his right boot. Krystal zipped up her old purple jumpsuit and grabbed her staff, testing it in her hands for a moment before collapsing it and strapping it to her back.

As they flew towards the hospital, Fox reactivated his COM, "Dial David."

The small blue haze appeared again, and for a few moments before a female mouse appeared, "I'm sorry but the emperor is busy right now. If you could please", she blinked, "Mr. McCloud! I'll connect you right away!"

Fox rolled his eyes. Then the image of a panther popped up, "What is it Fox? I've got damage control to organize and…"

"David it's the T-virus!"

The feline stopped dead, "That's not possible. I had all samples destroyed."

Fox started their decent onto the hospital's parking garage, "Well somehow Wesker got his hands on some, or worse, he made his own", Fox turned off the hovercar, "I'm going into the hospital, so we'll talk later."

"Fine. And thank you", the emperor said before his head disappeared.

The two rushed into the tall building and were quickly directed to the appropriate room, where they quickly ran to their daughter's side.

"Mommy! Daddy", she shouted with her hands outstretched.

Krystal wrapped her up in a hug and cried, "Oh my baby! Are you alright?"

Emily smiled, but said tiredly, "My head hurts."

Krystal smiled and stroked her cheek, "Don't worry baby. I'll make it better."

Meanwhile Fox and Panther were standing by the window. Falco was asleep in Fara's lap. The two husbands stood off to the side.

"Panther. I want you and Fara to come home with Krystal and me, just in case."

It was just then that a doctor came in, dressed in dark blue scrubs.

"Mr. and Mrs. McCloud. I'm Doctor Thomas. I've looked over your daughter's neural scans", he produced a holodisk and hit the control button. The image of a brain popped up, "They revealed that your daughter just had her telepathic center activate", and the image focused on a section of her frontal lobe that was pulsing green, "However. Due to the fact that she is only half Cerinian I would like to keep her here overnight… just for observation."

Fox looked over at Krystal who had stood up when the doctor entered.

'Whadda ya think', he thought to her.

Krystal gave a slight nod, 'Fine. But I'm staying with her.'

Fox nodded, "Alright", he looked back to the doctor, "She'll stay, but my wife will be with her the whole time."

The doctor nodded in consent, "I'll have another bed brought in right away…"

Hours later…

Krystal woke with a start. Her dreams had been full of nightmares. She looked around, suddenly worried for her daughter's life. However, Emily was sleeping soundly. Krystal sighed and rose from her bed, running her hand down the front of the scrubs she had been given. Moving to the bathroom, she splashed some water on her face and sighed.

"Mommy!"

Krystal dropped the towel she was using at the sound of her daughter's voice, "I'm coming baby!"

She dashed back over to her daughter's side. The girl was crying and shivering, clearly in fear, "I had a bad dream."

Krystal smiled softly and stroked the child's forehead, "It's okay baby. It was…", then she noticed the large yellow spot in the sheets, "Oh sweetie. C'mon, let's clean you up."

She scooped the sniffling girl up and carried her back to the bathroom, where she began running some water in the bathtub. After a few moments she peeled the child's soiled clothes off and settled her in the warm water.

It was at this moment that Krystal noticed something; the feeling of extreme terror she had felt wasn't gone. Matter of fact it was stronger. Krystal patted her daughter's head and stood up, "I'll be right back baby. Gonna get you some new clothes."

As she walked to the door the sound of screams of pain could be faintly heard, dampened by the soundproofing in the walls. She opened the door and the sounds grew louder, but were still muffled, clearly coming from another floor. Krystal grabbed a nurse as she ran by, "Excuse me, but can we get some fresh clothes and bedding in here? My daughter had an accident."

The human woman nodded, "I'll send someone right away. Now I've got to go."

She then continued on her way to the elevators. About a minute later a second nurse knocked on the door, holding some scrubs, "Here", she said as she hurriedly stuffed the cheap garments into Krystal's hands.

Before she could run off the blue vixen shouted, "Wait! What happened upstairs?"

The macaw nurse said, "Some woman hit a guy with her ground-car. When she got out to see if he was alright he attacked her, really messed her up."

Something about those words seemed to give Krystal the chills, and just then she heard an earsplitting shriek form down the hall. Both she and the nurse's heads snapped in that direction. A wolf was beating hard on one of the doors, each impact making the reinforced metal shake in it's track. And further down, where the emergency stairwell door was hanging from it's manual hinges, there were dozens of blood-soaked people pouring out into the hallway. Some joined the wolf and quickly managed to pry the door open, and from inside the room came several screams as they rushed inside.

Both females' eyes widened in horror as suddenly several turned to look at them. But Krystal spoke first, "Inside! Now!"

She grabbed the other woman's feathered arm and yanked her inside before quickly slamming the door, activating the manual lock, and throwing a chair in front of it. There was a violent pounding sound as the assailants reached it and began their assault. Krystal quickly pulled her scrubs off, not caring that she was now nude in front of a complete stranger. However, her nakedness was short-lived as she scrambled to pull on her Starfox uniform.

The nurse was panicking by this point, "By the Gods! What the hell happened!?"

Krystal zipped up her suit and yanked on her boots as she said, "Believe me or not they are infected with a virus that brings the dead back to life", the door gave a lurch and Krystal quickly looked to size up her companion, "Can you fight?"

The green and red avian shoot her head, "N-no."

Krystal rolled her eyes and grabbed her staff, "Of course not."

Just then, Emily came out of the bathroom, holding a towel in front of herself, "Mommy? What's going on?"

Krystal's gaze snapped to her daughter, "Emily go back in there", she grabbed the nurse and pushed her towards the bathroom as the door started to buckle in places, "Get in there! I'll hold them off!"

The door groaned as the bathroom door slid shut. Suddenly it was ripped from it's track, springing open a few inches before the chair stopped it. Hands and arms, all soaked in blood tore thru the gap as the zombies tried to reach their prey inside. Krystal opted to keep her staff compact, the full six-foot length would have been ill suited for the small space of the room. Then there was a thudding sound that shook the floor, growing louder as it grew nearer. Suddenly the barred door gave a massive lurch and flew inwards, Krystal barely having enough time to fall backwards and avoid it.

She kicked back up to her feet and gaped at what she saw, "Oh shit!"

Standing in the doorway was a rhino, both his eyes were missing along with half his face; it appeared he had been clawed. One of his hands had been stripped to the bone and his chest cavity had been ripped open. She could see his torn lungs moving as he drew deep ragged breaths. She took a slow quiet breath and began to sneak towards him, knowing that without his eyes he would have a hard time finding her. She turned her staff around to have the pointed end forwards. Then she thrust it forwards, piercing the zombie's temple and smirking as it staggered to the side.

However she was shocked when it swung one of it's massive arms and sent her flying into the wall, her staff being ripped both from it's head and her hands, skittering across the floor to stop near the large window overlooking the courtyard. Krystal staggered to her feet and had to dodge the blind swings and snatches at where the zombie thought she was. Diving to the side she managed to narrowly avoid it's mangled clutches. However, she had crashed into a piece of equipment, causing it to crash to the ground. This gave her opponent a new target and he relentlessly attacked. To avoid him Krystal slammed her feet into the wall and slid backwards under the bed, which happened to put her by the window. Scrambling on her hands and knees she snatched up her staff.

The undead rhino grabbed the bed and hurled it in her direction, forcing her to duck down again before it soared overhead and crashed thru the large window. The wind whipped fiercely past, tugging at her hair and tail as she slowly rose to her feet. In the few moments it had taken all this to happen the other zombies that had been trying to get in had rushed inside. However, they seemed to stop, as if assessing her. Krystal readied herself, holding her staff out in front of her, with her other hand held behind her, clenched into a fist. There were eight of them.

Suddenly Krystal got an idea. Extending her staff, she changed her hold to two hands, the weapon held down by her side as she shouted, "Hey!"

That one word was all they needed. The rhino roared and charged. Krystal waited for only a moment before she charged her staff, sending power rushing into the jeweled head before spinning around and bringing it slamming down. However, instead of hitting the floor it struck the charging rhino's head. The powered slam tore right thru the thick bone, sending chunks of calcium and brain matter flying everywhere as it continued to rip thru his body. Blood and guts splattered outwards, painting the walls red. When the head finally connected with the floor it violently shook the entire level of the building, shattering windows and sending every zombie crashing to the ground.

However, the ones in the room were quick to get back to their feet and lung forwards. Krystal swung the back of her staff upwards, gutting the wolf that reached her first, the blue jewel cutting thru and splitting his spine. Before the body hit the ground, she brought it back down and thrust forward, piercing a lioness in the chest, spinning around and hurling her thrashing body out the broken window, sending her plummeting the forty stories to the pavement below. Collapsing her staff, she spun around and swung it like a baseball bat, almost tearing another lioness's head off with the blow.

The next one she kicked in the face, the heel of her boot puncturing it's eye and sending bone shards into the red hawk's brain. She shoved another wolf off before extending her staff and throwing it like a spear, the jeweled end piercing a calico feline's head and pinning her to the wall behind her.

Krystal then spun around with a high roundhouse kick, striking the wolf in the side of the head and shattering his skull. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind, the tiger's claws trying to attain purchase on her armored breastplate. Before he could get a good hold and bite her, she grabbed the back of his head and yanked down hard. When his torn throat hit her shoulder she gave a quick jerk and threw him to the floor. Then she reached up, yanked her spear from the calico's corpse, and drove the blade into the tiger's neck, severing his spinal column.

However, the final zombie managed to tackle her to the ground, knocking her staff from her hands. Krystal slammed her elbow into the side of his head, but being on the bottom prevented her from getting enough force in order to kill it. She was forced to place her forearm into the rat's neck to prevent him from biting her. She was grateful that he couldn't get enough of a grip to claw her and infect her that way. However her strength was waning and the undead rodent was working slowly closer and closer, his large front teeth a hairsbreadth from her cheek as she turned her head away, not wanting to watch as she died.

"Get off her!"

Krystal's eyes clamped shut as she saw out of the corner of her eye the heavy end of her staff come swinging in low and connect with the zombie's temple, sending it rolling off her. Krystal saw the nurse run over and begin bashing the corpse in the head repeatedly, even though it was clearly dead. Krystal slowly got to her feet and looked the nurse over. She was short her scrub shirt, only garbed in a plain white bra from the waist up. She was still beating the body, grunting with each blow until the staff fell from her numb hands.

Krystal walked quietly up to her side, "Miss?"

The woman jerked around quickly, pressing her back to the gore-splattered wall and covering her face with her arms, "No! No no no!"

Krystal quickly jumped forward and clamped her hand down on the feathered woman's beak, "Quiet", she hissed, "If you want to live to see tomorrow you have to do as I say."

The woman slowly calmed down enough to nod her head. When Krystal let go of her she looked down at the body, "I've never killed anything before."

Krystal sighed and picked up her staff, "Trust me, you did him a favor", she turned to the bathroom, "Emily?"

The young girl came out, dressed in the nurse's shirt, "Mommy? What happened?"

Krystal moved to hug the girl, but then realized she was covered in blood and bits of organs, from the impact with the rhino, so she settled for just cupping the girl's jaw and rubbing her cheek gently with her thumb, "Are you okay baby?"

Emily nodded and squeezed her mother's hand, "Mmhm. Why'd they try to hurt us?"

Krystal was going to answer when there came another shriek from down the hall. Krystal ran to the door and peeked around the edge. There was a single zombie in the hall, looking around as it staggered slowly down the hall towards them. Krystal narrowed her eyes, before she raised her staff, aiming it as best she could from her position. She charged it again and gave the command, sending a bolt of fire straight into the undead human's face, melting half his head.

As the body dropped, she ducked back into the room and turned to the nurse, "We need some place to hole up 'til help arrives."

The nurse rubbed her arm as she mumbled, "We can hide in the on-call room down the hall. It's got some food and a small bathroom."

Krystal nodded. Then she pointed to her daughter, "Carry her", and then she added, "Please."

The nurse nodded turning and scooping Emily up in her arms. As soon as they were together, Krystal stepped out into the corridor, her staff aimed up towards the stairs. They could all hear the sounds of zombies in the side-rooms, but none were in the hall. Looking back to the nurse Krystal jerked her head down the hall behind her. The macaw scurried out and down the hall, her arms around Emily as she carried her frightened form. They passed the main receptionist's desk, papers and data-PADs scattered everywhere.

"This way", the nurse whispered, pointing down a narrow hallway. Krystal nodded and took the lead. Finally, she saw a door on the right, at the end of the hall with the words ON-CALL ROOM on it above the room number. Krystal waved for them to stop as she placed her ear to the door. Hearing nothing, she pressed the node for the door to open and it slid away, revealing an almost homey looking room, with two bunk beds and a vending machine, along with a pair of chairs and a sofa. She turned around and waved the others in, before ducking inside herself, which was good timing, because just as the door began to close a pair of german shepherd zombies walked out from around the corner.

As soon as the door shut Krystal locked it, but she flinched when it made a loud CLUNK! as the magnetic lock activated. Then she turned around. Her daughter was on one of the bunks shivering in fear. The nurse was sitting in the corner, staring blankly into space in shock. Just then, Krystal noticed that set up on one wall was a holoprojector. Moving quickly to it she typed in the command for local news. Instead of the newscaster, the image of Peppy popped up…

"…uarentine. I repeat, the Emperor has declared a state of emergency. Cornaria city is to be evacuated. All citizens are advised to remain calm and to avoid contact with the assailants as they head out of the city. If you wish, you may remain in your homes, search teams will find you. Local law enforcement will cooperate with military personnel in order to keep the peace for the duration of this emergency. Anyone who has had direct contact with the assailants should be placed under direct quarantine. I will now take your questions."

Someone raised their hand, "Mr. Speaker, is it a virus?"

Peppy nodded, "A virus is likely, but we don't know for sure."

"Is it airborne?"

The aging hare sighed, "Airborne is a possibility, we don't know."

"Is this a health hazard or a military concern?"

Peppy answered that one with, "Both."

"Are these people alive or dead?"

Peppy paused for a second as he gave the questioner a judging look. Then he sighed and said, "We don't know."

Then the crowd burst into chatter…

Krystal flopped down onto the only sofa and rubbed her temple, "Dammit", she muttered.

The nurse who had moved to stand beside her said, "What?"

Krystal gestured to the image as she muted it, "They know exactly what this is. They're just trying not to cause a panic."

The nurse gulped and said, "Umm the bathroom is over there, if you want to try and clean up. The shower's small, and the water pressure sucks but…"

Krystal nodded and stood up, "Thanks", and then she turned to Emily, "I'll be right back. You just be a good girl, Okay?"

The five year old nodded, but said nothing. Krystal sighed and began undoing her suit as she walked to the small bathroom. However, inside she heard movement. Stopping dead Krystal yanked her staff off her back. Then she knocked on the door. However, instead of a hiss or a snarl, she heard a whimper.

"Hello", she said, "Is someone there?"

The door slid open and she found a blaster pressed to her forehead. Looking past the barrel, she saw a human man in jeans, a white tee shirt and sneakers with a black leather jacket. Hiding behind him was a snow leopard woman in similar clothes, blue jeans, black sneakers, and a light blue tee shirt. The man pressed the blaster harder against her head as he said, "Just leave us alone. Alright?"

Krystal sighed, "That's not your blaster is it?"

The man looked quickly from the weapon to Krystal, "What of it?"

The blue vixen calmly stood up and snatched it from his hands, "Because the safety's on genius."

She hit a small switch and readout lit up on the side of the pistol.

18

Krystal sighed and said, "Would you mind getting out of there? I want to clean up a bit."

The man only backed up, wrapping his arms around the spotted feline behind him, "Listen, we don't want any trouble."

Krystal rubbed her temple, "And neither do I. All I want is to use the shower."

The feline settled her hand on the human's chest, "Roger. If she wanted to hurt us she would have."

The man eyed Krystal over before he sighed, dropping his head, "You're right", as he walked past her he said, "I'm sorry about the whole…"

Krystal slapped the blaster back into his hand, "Forget it. Just make sure the next thing you aim this at is trying to eat you."

Then she shut the door. After disrobing, she turned on the water, which barely sprayed from the faucet head. It's saving grace was that the water got hot quickly. After she stepped under the water, she realized that there wasn't any soap or anything. Sighing in frustration, she stepped back out and grabbed the only towel. She dried herself as best she could, and then set about the task of cleaning her suit. Twenty minutes later she came back out, her jumpsuit devoid of gore and blood, her staff also clean.

Walking over she sat down on the bunk her daughter had crawled into and stroked her hair, "Hey. You okay?"

The girl nodded, whispering, "My head hurts."

Krystal smiled, "Don't worry. It'll stop soon", she leaned down and kissed her forehead, "Try to get to sleep."

Then she stood up and moved over to the large window. Looking out at the city she could faintly hear the sound of police sirens. She could also hear and see blasters being fired. The high squeal of a pistol firing, the screeching wail of a blaster rifle, and the loud roar of shotguns.

"So", she said to herself, although the others could hear her, "This is the way the world ends."

Then she sat down on the windowsill. Crossing her legs and placing her fingertips on her temples she reached out with her mind, 'Fox…"

**End Chapter Eight**


	9. Quarentine

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Nine: Quarantine**

Five hours ago…

Fox left the hospital with the sleeping Falco in his arms, with Panther and Fara right behind him. As they all climbed into Fox's hover-car, since the others had taken a cab, Fox got a call. Activating his COM the image of their emperor popped up.

"Fox I need you to come to the capitol building immediately. I need your advice."

Fox sighed and looked over at Panther. The black feline patted Fara's shoulder, "Would you take Falco back home? Fox and I have somewhere to be."

The fennec nodded ands moved to Fox's side, where she carefully took the still drowsy Falco, "I'll see you later?"

Fox nodded and patted her shoulder, "We'll catch a cab back."

Then he turned and spoke to the small image of David, "We'll be right there."

Behind him, Panther gave Fara a kiss and whispered, "Drive safe."

Then he and Fox ran over to the nearest waiting auto-cab. They punched in their destination and paid the fare as the automated pilot tore off into the sky.

An hour later due to traffic they landed, and were immediately snatched up by a pair of attendants who lead them to the council chambers. Inside they were met by David, Peppy, and several other advisors, along with the high council. In amongst the politicians some familiar faces could also be seen.

"Captain McCloud. Nice to see you again."

Fox nodded in the speaker's direction, "Hello Red. I see you got that upgrade."

The A.I. smiled, her holographic face depicting that of a twenty something blonde human woman in a white sundress, "I do wish that my sister would get rid of that old android husk and move back to holograms…"

She was interrupted by David snapped, "Save the chit-chat! We've got work to do!"

The hologram simply said, "You are correct Your Excellency. Fox you were asked here because, although I have expert technical knowledge of our current predicament. I have minimal practical knowledge. And there were a few victims who had to be quarantined from the impact site."

David raised his left hand to draw Fox's attention, "We were hoping you would be willing to give your opinion on how to really deal with this situation, given that you've experienced it first hand."

Fox shook his head, "But I haven't", he paused for a moment, "but maybe I can get you someone who has", plucking out his COM he said, "Dial Alice…"

On the other side of the city…

Officer Alice Wesker staggered into her apartment, completely exhausted.

"Three muggings, two robberies, and an assault of a law enforcement officer today", she muttered to herself, "God I'm tired."

She unbuckled her belt and dropped it onto the coffee table as she flopped down on the couch. She popped open her uniform top and lay down. Closing her eyes she started to drift off to sleep when her COM went off, buzzing loudly in her pocket. The woman growled, grabbed the device and glared at the screen out one eye, "For fucks sake Fox! Sorry but I need sleep."

She gave the ignore command and turned the device off, before closing her eyes again. She was again stopped from sleeping by a pair of large furred hands settling over her eyes, "Guess who?"

Alice groaned, "Oh God Joohhhnn! Can I please get some time to sleep?"

The large brown stallion chuckled, "But I like keeping you awake", he pulled his hands away and kissed her cheek before settling on the end of the couch, pulling her shoes and socks off and settling her bare feet in his lap, which he then began to rub and massage. If Alice had been feline she would have been purring by this point.

"Mmm John you're really good at that."

The equine chuckled, "I'm good at other things too", he said as he began to rub up the back of her calf.

Alice yawned and settled back down into the couch muttering, "Thank you."

Just as she started to drift off John scooped her up in his large arms, "Oh no you don't. The couch is no place for a hero to sleep."

Alice chuckled tiredly, "A hero? I'm no hero."

John moved to the bedroom and settled them down upon it, with her still held against him, "Yes you are. You're a cop. You put your life on the line every single day to make sure that those people out there can sleep soundly at night."

Alice looked up at him and slid her slender fingers into one of his hands, "And what about you? Mr. big bad marine? Aren't you a hero too?"

John shrugged, "I suppose to some. But soldiers only risk their lives in war. Before Earth I hadn't done anything since the Aparoid incident. Sitting around on a space station, just like now", then he scoffed, "And all I did today before I took my shore leave was screw up and okay that freighter for flight after it docked on the _Orion_."

Alice yawned again and clutched lightly at his shirt, fast asleep. John smiled, remembering back when they first met on Earth, how he hated her kind. Now he couldn't imagine life without her around. Carefully slipping his shoes off he grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed, pulled it up over the both of them, and let himself drift off to sleep…

Back with Fox and company…

The vulpine tried again for the fourth time to call Alice before finally giving up, "Screw it", looking at the emperor he said, "I'm gonna go and get her. Hopefully it won't take too long."

Panther moved to the door, "I'll go with you…"

Two hours later…

A positively fuming Fox stormed out of the auto-cab, "What the fuck is up with the traffic today?!"

An equally aggravated Panther said, "I don't know. It's like everybody just went nuts."

Walking into the lobby of the large apartment complex, they were greeted by a lupine security guard in a black uniform.

"Hello Mr. McCloud."

Fox leaned against his desk, "Hey Charlie. Man you look like shit."

The grey wolf snorted, "I **feel** like shit. Got mugged earlier and now I'm catching a cold or something."

He would have said more but suddenly the inside of his ears lost their color and he hunched over a nearby trash bin.

When he finished he wiped his mouth and said, "I assume you're here to see Miss Alice, right?"

Fox nodded, "Yeah. The Emperor want's to talk to her, but she won't answer her COM."

The guard swallowed hard, "I'll buzz you in. You remember which floor she's on?"

"Fourteen."

Panther gawked, "Fourteen?! That's a lot of frickin' stairs."

Fox chuckled as the security door slid open, "Yeah but it's good for ya!"

They were twelve flights up when they heard first one, then quickly a second gunshot. Both men snapped their heads up before looking at each other. Fox drew and primed his blaster while Panther ducked behind him. The feline shrugged, "I don't carry a piece when I'm off duty."

Fox rolled his eyes and moved quickly up the stairs…

Alice woke slowly, stretching luxuriously in her bed, her stomach grumbling. Her stirring woke John as well. The human gently scratched at his chest, "That was a nice nap."

John smiled and rubbed her back, "Yeah."

Just then, there came a crash from the next room. Both of them snapped into a sitting position before quickly jumping to their feet. Moving to the door Alice looked out, waving her hand behind her for John to keep back. Looking around she saw an elderly wolf woman in a hideous pink housedress wandering thru her living room, looking lost. Alice sighed, "It's my neighbor", stepping out she settled her hand gently on the woman's shoulder, "Mrs. Wilkes? Are you…"

She was stopped dead though when the elderly woman's head snapped around to reveal half her face had been torn off, leaving her teeth exposed as blackened blood dripped from her jaw. Alice dove backwards just in time to avoid her snapping jaws and clawing hands. However, the human woman tripped over her coffee table, and Mrs. Wilkes scrambled over the sofa to try to get her again. Suddenly John came out, grabbed the old wolf, and bodily hurled her across the room. The impact caved in a section of wall, but that didn't stop her, the elder jumping back to her feet and running over and tackling John with surprising force, taking him to the ground.

John was saved though when Alice snatched her police issue CEB-8 and fired, striking her neighbor in the shoulder. Looking down the sights she fired again, hitting her in the temple and splattering her brains all over the wall. As soon as the body hit the floor John flipped over onto all fours before scrambling to his feet and moving away to the wall, his back pressed firmly to it, "Alice, you're bleeding."

The human reached up and touched her forehead, "Oh it's nothing, just hit my head on the table."

She moved over and flopped down next to him, "That was…"

John nodded, "Yeah. I know."

Just then, a third voice joined them, "Alice? Alice are you here?"

"Fox?"

The vulpine came in, followed by Panther, "Alice. Are you alright?"

The human nodded, "I'm fine."

It was just then that Fox noticed her equine companion, "John? Wow. Man, it's been a while."

The horse chuckled, "How ya doin' boss?"

Fox shook his head, "We can chat later", Fox gestured to the bleeding corpse on the ground, "I'm guessing you've figured out the situation."

Alice let out a scoff, "No kidding."

Fox holstered his blaster and held out his hand. However, Alice just stood up on her own. When both she and John were on their feet Fox said, "Get your gear. The Emperor wants to talk to you. Right now

After a few minutes they were moving quickly back down the stairs. As they neared the bottom they were met with a horrible sight. Charles the security guard was slumped over his desk, not moving. Fox pressed a finger to the end of his muzzle and drew his blaster, slowly advancing, 'til he pressed the cool metal against the base of the wolf's skull.

"Ugh…Whad", Charles asked, slowly turning until he was what was pressed to his head. He sniffed and mumbled "Ogay, whad I biss?"

Fox said, "Open your shirt and roll up your sleeves and pant legs."

The sick wolf numbly complied. When he was done he muttered, "So whad's goig on?"

Fox looked him over. Upon finding no bites the vulpine holstered his blaster and said, "Get on the inter-COM and tell all the residents to stay inside and lock their doors. Then meet us outside."

The group left the building and tried to hail a cab. A few minutes later the sniffling Charlie came out, tugging on a grey jacket with the word SECURITY emblazoned on the back. The wolf blew his nose into a handkerchief and sniffled, "So? Whad's goig od dat reguirs the virebower?"

Before anyone could answer there was a bone-chilling shriek, a sound that Fox and John had been trying to forget for the last ten years. Every head snapped in the direction of the noise in time to see a shirtless wolf stalk out of the alley. And he was a testament to the strength of his species, appearing to be a body builder in life, his massive arms matching John's in size. However, when he turned towards them and they saw his other side they knew where the scream had come from. The wolf's left arm was missing from the elbow down, ragged chunks of bloody flesh dripping from the exposed bone, and there was an obvious hole in his chest where he'd been shot recently, the wound still smoldering. He howled again and charged them, his remaining arm thrashing wildly.

Fox and Alice snapped their blasters up and began firing. Their shots weren't accurate unfortunately, as bolts struck and burned into his body, but none found his head. Finally though, one did strike true when he was only a few feet away. The bolt came from Charlie's blaster, in John's massive hand. As soon as the body dropped the equine returned the blaster and said, "That's why."

Alice ran across the street, "C'mon! We'll take my ground unit."

She typed in the access code and unlocked the black and white car. As everyone piled in, she started the vehicle and flipped on the siren. Setting it to priority she planted her foot on the floor and the tires squealed as they tore off down the road. However it was only a few minutes before they hit traffic. Alice blared the siren, but it still took almost an hour for them to clear traffic and hit open road again.

Another hour and two traffic jams later they made it to the capitol. As soon as they got inside Fox said to the emperor, "This is the woman you want. If you've read her file you'll see that she survived the initial outbreak of the T-virus on Earth."

Alice waved her hands in front of her chest, "Look. I'm nothing special, I just did my best and got lucky."

The emperor leaned towards her, "Listen, Miss Wesker. We may have never met but I assure you, I know quite a bit about you. I know what you are, what the Umbrella Corp. and that bastard brother of yours did to you. Now you were there when this crap first broke out, so I need any advice you can give me on how to properly handle the situation."

Alice sighed, "Have you quarantined the area?"

David nodded, "Yes."

"Have you begun dispersing anti-virus?"

Once again the emperor nodded, "To both the search and rescue squads and military checkpoints."

"Have you instructed your squads on how to kill them?"

David looked at one of his advisors. The hare sheepishly shrugged before running off somewhere, "We are right now."

Finally, Alice asked, "Have you set up a contingency plan?"

David shook his head slightly, "What do you mean?"

Alice leaned on the table between them, "Look. This virus spreads thru bites, basically you get bit you're screwed unless you get the anti-virus in time. That's why it spreads so quickly. Now it already has a few hours head start on you, so it's going to be difficult to successfully contain and treat this problem. You need a backup plan, for if or when the treatment fails."

The Red Queen chose now to speak, "But we tried that on Earth remember? A nuclear blast wasn't effective in sterilizing Raccoon City. All it did was speed the process."

Fox nodded, "True. But we've got better bombs here Red."

He was about to say more when he heard Krystal's voice in his mind.

"Fox."

The tan vulpine stopped mid syllable and moved to the wall, "Krystal?"

Krystal's voice was calm, but he could tell that it was only just so, "Fox. The hospital's been overrun. Emily and I are holed up in the fortieth floor on-call room with a few others. I don't know how long we can last Fox."

Fox clenched his fist, the metal fingers leaving claw marks in the stone wall as the synthetic skin was peeled back, exposing his metal fingertips. Fox took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Are you alright?"

He heard her sniff, "Yeah. Fox we're cut off, and can't get out on our own. We need your help."

The vulpine nodded, even though she couldn't see him, "Stay put. I'll come to get you."

Closing his mental link to Krystal, Fox shook his head and rubbed his temple. Panther grasped his shoulder, shaking gently as he said, "Hey. You alright?"

Fox nodded, "I'm fine. Just been a while since Krystal and I had a telepathic chat", then he moved to the Emperor's side, "Sir. I need…"

He was cut off by the sound of blaster fire close by. Fox and Alice both raised their weapons. Even Charlie tried, pulling his old CEB-6 free. But the poor health he was in prompted Panther to take it from him. The sickly wolf just submitted and flopped down in a chair, drawing a deep ragged breath before hacking up a load of phlegm.

The sound of blasters firing grew louder before the doors slid open and a pair of royal guards came in, armed with semi-automatic blaster shotguns. One guard stayed at the door, with his shotgun aimed down the hallway, while the other ran over and grabbed David by the arm, "Your Excellency we have to go now!"

Just then the guard at the door fired, shouting, "They're here!"

His gunfire was matched by the screams and howls of the infected as dozens came rushing up the hallway. The four bolts fired every time he squeezed the trigger struck again and again, blowing off body parts and burning holes in bodies. However, he was quickly overwhelmed, falling under a tide of bodies, the other guard only having just enough time to lock the door and drown out his comrade's screams of pain.

He then turned and pointed to a small door on the other side of the room, "That joining room! It can take us to the landing pad on the roof!"

The door behind him bulged as something large slammed into it. The small group ran, surging thru the door. However, the final guard stopped to close the door between himself and the rest of the group.

"Mr. McCloud. I leave the Emperor in your capable hands. Get him to the roof."

Before the door closed all the way he tossed his shotgun thru, which Fox snatched out of the air. As it drew to a close he nodded to the guard. Fox turned around and said, "Which way David?"

The Emperor pointed at a door, "That will lead to the emergency stairs."

Fox tossed the shotgun to John and re-drew his blaster, "Let's go then."

Moving to the door Fox pressed his back to one side, Alice to the other, while John stood in front of it, the shotgun aimed at the space. The horse nodded to Fox who pressed his palm to the control pad, causing the door to slide open. John and Alice stepped out first, each facing a different way down the hallway. Fox came out next, quickly followed by David and his remaining two advisors, with Panther and Charlie coming up the rear.

David pointed at a manual door and they quickly moved towards it. David turned the knob and stepped into the stairwell, to be immediately grabbed and bitten by an infected lion. The black leopard managed to shove his attacker off and stumbled back out into the hallway, where every blaster available turned and fired on the lion, turning him into red splattering all over the stairwell wall. David yelled in pain and held his shoulder, trying to staunch the flow of blood.

From down the corridor there came another howl. All eyes turned in that direction, before everyone scrambled thru the door. Fox slammed it shut and bent the knob to jam it. He turned around to see Alice looking over David's wound. The woman tore off a piece of his shirt and tied it in place to help staunch the bleeding.

"It missed all the vital stuff, so he won't bleed to death. My guess, we've got about two hours to get him some anti-virus."

Fox nodded, "Plenty of time. Alright let's move", just then something dawned on him, "Waitasec! Where's Peppy?"

David swallowed, "He was giving a press conference before you got back."

Fox sighed, "Great. First priority is to get you out of here", moving to the stairs leading up he said, "Let's go."

Thirty minutes later they busted out onto the roof. David and Charlie had fallen to the back, the advisors holding up the infected emperor while the ill wolf was supported by Panther. Fox looked around, but saw no evac, just a lot of zombies. The nearest few took notice of them and screamed before charging.

Fox fired and dropped a wolf while Alice stopped a cheetah in his tracks. Panther set Charlie down and began firing into a group of infected totaling about a dozen. He began to slowly back up as they drew nearer, fear setting into his heart. But suddenly there was a loud roar and four bolts flew past his head, flying from John's shotgun to strike multiple targets, slowing them down.

The gunfire only lasted a few minutes, leaving at least thirty zombies dead on the floor. Off one of the bodies Fox grabbed a COM unit that was still chattering, "Hey! Are any flying units in the area?"

Like music to their ears the head of a bat popped up, "Holy crap there's still someone alive! Pilot turn this thing around we've got more refugees! I estimate ten minutes 'til pickup. Just hold out as long as you can and we'll come get you."

Fox nodded, "Roger. Haul ass man!"

Just then everything went quiet. Fox looked around. Everyone seemed to be frozen in place. Even the ash in the air wasn't moving. Fox moved to the edge and saw a massive fire in a fuel station.

"This is too fucking weird", he muttered to himself.

"Such language Fox", came a voice.

Fox spun around, instantly knowing whom he would see, "Albert Wesker", just then it clicked what had happened, "I see you've developed your telepathy."

The demented human smiled, "Quite", folding his arms behind his back he strolled forward, til he stood just in front of Fox, "I find it comes in handy", then he leaned forward and whispered, "This is only the beginning."

Fox clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to drive his right hand straight thru the black clad man's face, but of course Wesker wasn't actually there, "What do you want?"

The human stepped back and idly inspected his nails, "Just thought I'd give you a little warning, just to make sure you don't die yet. I want that pleasure myself."

Fox growled and snapped out, "Get on with it already!"

Wesker scowled, "You know what? Forget the warning. You'll find out soon enough."

Just then Fox felt slightly dizzy. When he opened his eyes again he was back where he had been, covering the Emperor. Spotting a small room, he picked the Emperor up in a firefighter's carry, "C'mon. We can hole up in there."

As soon as they were thru John shut the manual doors and barred them. Moving to a closet Fox opened the door and scanned the small space, before ushering the Emperor, his advisors, and Charlie inside. However, the sick wolf wouldn't fit, so he moved back out and flopped down in the corner, "I just need to catch my breath."

Just then, they all heard that tell-tale shriek. Spotting another door Fox and the others busted thru and up a short flight of stairs before stepping out onto the small roof. They were surprised to find a mounted gatling gun in front of them, next to a mangled corpse. Charlie stumbled past Fox before grabbing the heavy blaster's firing studs. Looking over his shoulder at the others he mumbled, "Just watch my back."

As he finished those words the first few zombies could be seen bashing their way thru the roof access door. And upon spotting their small group they all howled and charged. Charlie opened up on them, the highly concentrated plasma ripping into bodies. Suddenly though the gun sparked and died, it's cooling vents glowing, "Shit", the lupine shouted.

Fox, Alice, and Panther all took aim and did what they could. Nearly every shot dropped a zombie, but there were just too many, and soon the swarm had pooled around the base of the structure. Over the side they could see the horde beating on the doors. Fox turned to John and shouted, "John! Get the Emperor up here!"

As the large equine disappeared back inside Charlie's gatling gun started back up and he opened up on the swarming mass of bodies below, making sure to fire in bursts so as not to overheat again. After a few minutes the COM barked, "Six minutes. How you holdin' up?"

Fox growled and grappled with a zombie that had managed to clamber up onto the roof. As he snapped it's neck and threw the body over the edge he snapped, "How the fuck do you think!?"

Any further communication was cut off as there was a roar loud enough that it got everyone's attention. Looking over Fox gaped at what he saw.

At first he thought it was a gorilla, or a rhino, but then he saw it was something much worse. It was someone who had been mutated, similar to how General McNeal had been. Although it seemed that all the mass this poor soul had gained went straight to his torso, his arms, chest, and shoulders growing to ridiculous sizes, his arms growing longer to hold the bulging muscles. So much so in fact that his massive knuckles dragged the ground, and he leaned on them like an extra set of legs. And to make matters worse, it seemed that his head had disappeared between the massive bulk of his shoulders.

During their momentary lapse in concentration the undead had managed to gain some ground, scrambling up the sides of the structure and trying to pull themselves up. This quickly got everyone's attention back. The Emperor and his advisors clustered in the middle of the group.

Fox sent two shots into the thick skull of a bull, while John squeezed off a shot at a tiger that came scrambling over the side. Alice and Panther stood back to back as the human snap-kicked a zombie over the edge of the building and Panther crammed the barrel of his CEB-6 down the throat of a zebra woman who had grabbed the front of his shirt.

Then the monster on the other side of the roof charged, it's massive fists slamming into the roofing and propelling it forwards. It smashed thru zombies indiscriminately, crushing them under-fist and smashing them aside. Each time his hands hit the ground it shook violently. It actually helped thin the crowd, dropping numbers to about ten or so.

Charlie swung the gatling gun down and depressed the firing studs, sending around a dozen bolts ripping into the monster's chest. But they did nothing and he was forced to dive out of the way as the beast quickly swung up onto the smaller roof and swung an enormous arm, ripping the gun from it's stand and sending it flying. Everyone was forced to scatter as it crashed into the group. It grabbed one of the advisors in it's massive hands. It raised him up, kicking and screaming, before smashing him down into the roof again and again.

"Run", Fox shouted. The others needed no second telling, each running over and down the short staircase to bust out onto the main level. They ran out the double doors and into open space. On top of the small structure the behemoth grasped the dead advisor's wrist in his jaws and pulled, ripping his arm off, before tossing the corpse aside and looking around quickly before spotting them again. It jumped off the roof and crashed into the concrete beneath it, sending chips of processed stone flying as cracks spider webbed away in all directions. Landing closest to John the stallion snapped his shotgun up and pulled the trigger. However he was met with nothing but a small display flashing a bright red 0.

"Ah cra…!"

He was cut off as the monster slammed a fist into his chest, sending him flying to smash into the side of an air conditioning control unit.

"John", Alice screamed as she ran over to him.

The stallion wheezed and moaned in pain, "Oh God my ribs…"

The creature then turned it's attention to Panther. The feline fired wildly as he backpedaled, until he tripped over a corpse, his blaster sent skittering across the floor. He crossed his arms across his face in a futile attempt to stop the impending impact…

Fox gaped for the briefest of moments as John flew thru the air. Then his attention turned to the creature as it chased Panther. When the feline fell, he acted. Fox holstered his blaster and swung his leg out behind him. Charging up he dashed over and stopped in front of the creature as it raised it's hands. Then he crossed his arms over his head, muttering, "I hope this works", as he diverted that power to his arms. And to his and Panther's shock the creature's fist stopped dead when it struck his forearms. Fox grunted in pain as the force drove him downwards slightly, his boots digging into the floor beneath him, but he stayed standing.

Fox snarled and threw his arms wide before swinging his right fist straight out with his fingers extended. The hard metal easily pierced the monster's skull, and it's arms dropped down limp. Before the body hit the ground Fox dropped to his knees and doubled over. He'd never done that before, using his power like that, and it hurt like a mother. His arms felt like they were made of lead. Fox felt hands grasp his shoulders as he looked to his left and saw Panther helping him up.

The black feline had that giddy I just stared death in the face look as he said, "Man you just saved my ass! I owe you one."

Just then there was a roar from above and a Typhoon drop-ship swung over above them before touching down on the roof. The back opened up and several soldiers came out, quickly sweeping the roof, before ushering the group into the ship and taking off. As he leaned back in his seat, Fox watched as Alice administered a dose of the anti-virus to David.

Once she was done the vulpine leaned forward and said, "David. As soon as we get up to the station. I want you to order the bombers up."

As they broke thru the atmosphere the last advisor shouted, "Excuse me! That is the Emperor you are talking to. I don't care who you are you show him some respect!"

As they docked he turned to the Emperor, "Sire. I really think that Mr. McCloud is jumping the gun here. We still have plenty of time to…"

However, the Emperor ignored him, "I'll do that Fox."

The vulpine got up and limped to the cockpit. After the door shut the advisor growled, "Sire please. It's easy for him to suggest such a strategy, he's safely here on the _Scott Pepper_."

Panther shook his head and muttered, "Shut up you prick", standing up, "His wife and daughter are trapped in Cornaria City General", he leaned over and got in the politician's face as he snarled, "Take that into account before you question his motives."

The advisor looked down, a shocked look on his face. He meekly followed the medics as they led David and John off.

Up in the cockpit Fox patted the back of the pilot's helmet to get his attention. The human turned in his seat, "What can I do for you sir?"

Fox let out a breath, "How long will it take you to refuel?"

The lapine co-pilot hit a flashing node, "About five minutes. Why?"

Fox moved back towards the door, "Because there are more survivors in the hospital. I'd stake my reputation on it."

The pilot nodded, "Fine. We'll tell the crew to hurry."

Fox then re-entered the troop bay and flopped down in a seat, closing his eyes and rubbing his face. When he opened his eyes he saw Panther sitting across from him. The black feline laced his hands behind his head and asked, "So when do we go back down?"

Fox let out a tired breath, "Five minutes. I'm gonna talk to Krystal, let her know we're coming."

He then closed his eyes and focused his mind, pushing his skills to their limit, 'Krystal? Krystal can you hear me?'

**End Chapter Nine**


	10. Out of the Frying Pan

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Ten: Out of the Frying Pan**

Fox and Panther sat in the back of the Typhoon. As they re-entered the atmosphere Fox stood and moved back to the cockpit. He stuck his head in and said, "Hey. We've got a stop to make first", leaning forward he typed coordinates into the computer, "Land here so my friend and I can get our gear."

The pilot gave a thumbs up, "You got it. We'll let you know when we get close."

A few moments later they punched thru the clouds to be met with an eerie sight. There was no traffic in the skies. Several buildings were on fire, sending pillars of smoke and ash into the air. Down on the ground they could see throngs of people moving around, although they knew they weren't people anymore. As they moved towards the city limits the numbers thinned and the smoke cleared, until they could again see blue sky.

"We've arrived sir."

Fox felt the ship set down and he and Panther moved to the back. As the doors opened up the co-pilot stuck his head in and said, "Make it quick. We saw some of those fuckers following us down the street."

Fox nodded and the two ran out of the troop bay. Moving to the front door Fox smiled in relief to see Fara standing there with a concerned look on her face.

"What's going on out there? And why are you two here in a shuttle?!"

Fox pointed past her down the hall, "Go to my office Panther. Type EMILY into the desktop", then he returned his attention to the fennec woman as Panther hustled past them, "Where's Falco?"

Fara jerked her thumb over her shoulder and said, "He's asleep. Fox what's going on?"

The tan furred man grasped her shoulders, "Fara listen. Get the hover-car and take my son far away from here. No wait. Go to the spaceport and get _The Great Fox II _into orbit."

The woman swallowed hard under the intense gaze her friend gave her, "A-alright."

Then she turned and ran back into the house. Fox followed her until she passed his office, which he ran into. He moved straight over to a large safe that had slid up from a panel in the floor, tipping over the desk chair and nearby bookcase. Fox hastily pressed his palm to the scanner, which flashed blue twice before the door swung open, revealing a small armory.

Panther's jaw dropped as the assortment of weapons appeared, "Christ Fox. Were you expecting this or something?"

Fox shrugged as he grabbed headset and dropped the HUD monocle in front of his left eye, "Nobody could've seen this coming Panther."

Then he grabbed a Sub-Machine Blaster, SMB, settling the short weapon against his shoulder and pressing a full charge into place, nodding when the small readout on his HUD read 100. He looked over at Panther who had grabbed a shotgun and charged it, his own HUD showing 20.

Just then Fox felt a sense of confusion. Looking over to the door he saw Falco standing there with a scared look on his face as he muttered, "What's going on Dad?"

Fox snapped the carbine to a tactical vest he had buckled on before walking over and saying, "Your mother is stuck and needs mine and Uncle Panther's help to get home."

Falco rubbed his hands together nervously, "But why can't I go with you? I can shoot", he said, pointing at the small rifle on Fox's chest.

Fox shook his head rapidly and grabbed Falco's arm, "No! Falco it's way too dangerous. And you are way too young to have to do what I've got to do now."

Falco pushed forward and wrapped his arms around Fox's waist, "I don't want you to go…"

Fox suddenly had a flashback to his own childhood, to all the times when he had said exactly those words to his own father. And to all the times James had answered with…

"I'm sorry son. I have to."

Falco cried and held on tighter, "But why?"

Fox closed his eyes and said calmly, "Because your mother and sister need me to."

Falco let out a sob and held on tighter. Fox knelt down and wrapped his arms around the boy's heaving shoulders. Then he picked the boy up, cradling him to his body as he walked out of the house and whispered, "Don't worry. It'll be alright. I'll bring them home."

Then he handed him off to Fara, who was waiting by the hover-car. He continued to cry as he was settled into the vehicle. When the fennec turned around Panther was standing there. He gave a small smile before hugging his wife close. She responded by kissing him passionately. When it ended she squeezed his shoulders, whispering as tears sprang from her own eyes, "Come back to me."

Panther chuckled softly, "I promise."

Then he ran over to the Typhoon, where Fox was already waiting in the back. The two soldiers waved to their respective loved ones as the armored transport lifted into the air before the doors closed and they tore off into the sky.

Back in the hospital…

Krystal stirred slightly, slowly coming awake. She'd only closed her eyes a few minutes ago.

"Krystal? Krystal can you hear me?"

She started slightly at sensing Fox's voice, but immediately responded, "Yes."

She felt Fox sigh in relief, "Good. Panther and I are on our way. Just hold on."

Krystal smiled tiredly, "Got it."

From right next to her came, "Got what?"

Looking to her right Krystal saw the nurse sitting in the chair across from hers, "I just spoke with my husband. He's on his way."

The red and green parrot gave her a look, "How does that work anyway? Why is it that nobody else can do what you do?"

Krystal sighed tiredly, the whole ordeal draining her, "Because I'm the last of my kind, except for my daughter. I've stumbled across a few others who weren't Cerinian who were telepaths, but none are as strong as me."

The nurse rubbed her still bare arms, asking more to pass the time than out of genuine curiosity, "Can anyone learn?"

She was surprised when Krystal nodded, "Yes. I've taught my husband how to do it, although he's not very strong. And our adopted son is learning."

The parrot scooched a little closer, now with her interest piqued, "How long would it take to…you know, **learn**?"

Krystal shrugged, "Varies by the person, on how fast they reach their peak. It took Fox over two years to reach his", she paused to lean forwards so her elbows rested on her knees, with her chin in her hands, "As for myself, I guess I'm just lucky. Or cursed depending on how you want to look at it. If I let my mind go I can sense the innermost thoughts and emotions of people on the far reaches of the system."

Suddenly there was a series of dull and sickening thuds from out in the hallway. Every head jerked in the direction of the door, Roger's blaster and Krystal's staff snapping up. The door thudded in it's frame, the magnetic locks holding under this new assault. Things only continued to get louder and more ominous as they could now hear howls and screams coming from out in the hallway, they'd been found.

The blue vixen slowly got to her feet as the pounding began, the door shuddering under multiple fists as whatever had hit it first apparently moved out of the way. Emily whimpered and her mother pressed her to her side, whispering, "It's alright. They can't get in with the door sealed."

Krystal had said this aloud to not only calm her daughter, but also her fellow survivors. The nurse settled nervously into her chair, while the leopardess leaned fearfully against the human, who was obviously her boyfriend. The man in question had such a tight grip on the blaster in his lap that his knuckles were white with tension. Afraid that he might accidentally shoot himself Krystal reached over and flicked the safety back on.

"Hey", she whispered. Both the feline and her human companion snapped their gazes in her direction, "Calm down. The last thing we need is for anyone to panic…"

Just then a light lit up the large window, and everyone shielded their eyes for a moment before it passed, moving downwards. Moving over to the large transparasteel plate everyone saw a Typhoon drop ship moving around the side of the building, unable to land in the courtyard because of the covering structure. Emily smiled wide and said softly, "Daddy."

Krystal patted the girls head, just as everyone's attention was grabbed by the sound of the door being pried open. Everybody turned around quickly, Krystal and Roger raising their weapons, the jewel on Krystal's extended staff starting to glow red, while the CEB-8 in the human's hands whined quietly. However, when only one man came thru the door, Krystal froze in fear. Even though she had never actually met him before, she knew **exactly **who he was…

"Wesker."

Albert Wesker stood stock still, just looking at them, until suddenly the nurse stepped towards him, asking, "Is it safe out there?"

Look to the left thru the door and adjusted his sunglasses, "Not even close", then he looked back at her and smiled wickedly, "But I wouldn't worry about what's out there."

Then he snapped his hand up and backhanded the red-feathered woman so hard her sneakered feet left the ground and her beak cracked, small pieces flying across the room, before she slammed headfirst into the wall and slid to the floor with a thud, leaving a red smear on the wall as she lay silent.

Out of reflex and anger Roger fired four shots in Wesker's direction. The man just dodged them, twisting his torso out of the way of each shot, before finally grabbing the human by the arm and hurling him thru the air to crash thru the window, plummeting to his death.

"ROGER", the leopardess screamed as tears poured from her eyes. Turning on Wesker she leapt at him with the natural agility of her species, "WHY?! YOU BASTARD TELL ME WHY!?!"

Wesker ignored her pathetic attempts to strike him, simply batting her arms aside before he grabbed her throat and picked her up, holding her several inches from the ground. As the grey furred woman latched onto his wrist and gagged as Wesker raised his free hand and struck her swiftly between the ears. He threw her limp body onto the sofa, sending it tumbling. Then he turned on Krystal.

"Hello. Nice to finally meet you."

Krystal snarled, "Too bad I can't say the same."

Clutching tightly to her mother's leg, Emily stared wide-eyed at the evil man in front of her, "M-mommy…"

It was then that Wesker noticed her.

"So. This is the little girl that's always on his mind."

He leaned down to her level, but Krystal snapped her staff down, cutting him off before he could get too close.

"Stay away from her! Emily go in the bathroom!"

The girl ran towards the small door as Wesker stood back up, smiling nonchalantly at Krystal as she anxiously snapped the jeweled head back up, keeping it level with his jaw, "Now now, no need to shout. After all it's not polite."

Then he slammed his fist into her chest, knocking her backwards. The blue woman stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet. However she couldn't get her staff back up before Wesker dashed over and knocked it away, sending it skittering across the floor to end up lying underneath the large holoscreen. Krystal was quick to rebound though, using the resulting momentum to spin around, bringing her clenched fist crashing into the side of Wesker's head. She followed that up with a snap-kick that caught him under the chin, sending him reeling.

When he caught his balance Wesker wiped his lip, his gloved thumb coming away with some blood on it. Looking up he saw Krystal take a single step forwards and try to kick him again. He grabbed her booted foot and growled, "Now that's enough of that."

Grabbing her calf he swung her into the wall, leaving a body sized dent. Then he swung the other way, hurling her across the room, to crash thru the view screen, the wall behind it, and send her tumbling into the next room, where she wound up laying in the rubble of some piece of machinery, several large gashes in her skin pouring blood down her tattered uniform. Her eyes drifted lazily closed as darkness claimed her.

In the other room Wesker smirked as he watched a loose piece of wall fall into the hole Krystal's body had made. Then he turned to the bathroom door, "Oh Emilyyy… Come on out…"

He stopped in front of the door and placed his ear to the cool metal surface. He heard a whimper and smiled maliciously. Then he drove his fist into the door, punching thru the other side and drawing a shriek from inside. He grabbed hold of the door and gave a powerful yank, ripping it from it's frame. He tossed the door aside like it was made of balsa wood, and he smirked down at the trembling girl, cringing in the shower stall.

Reaching over he grabbed the front of the scrub shirt she was wearing and lifted her up. Struggling briefly, Emily managed to slip out of the shirt, and even though she was now naked she tried to run. However, she only managed to make it a few feet before Wesker grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back, kicking and screaming.

"Nooo! No ow! Let go of me!"

Wesker growled and picked her up before delivering one sharp blow to her stomach, driving the air from her lungs and forcing her to pass out, falling limp in his arms.

From behind him he heard a voice growl dangerously, "**Put. Her. Down.**"

Wesker let out a short laugh, "I'll be damned. I guess what they say about mother bears applies to foxes too."

Then he turned, and found Krystal standing there, bloodied and bruised, with her staff aimed right at his head. Her uniform was in tatters, one leg was shredded at the kneed and pooled around her boot. There was a large rip across her stomach, matching the cut underneath. The chest plate was dented and half torn away, dangling uselessly and exposing one of her breasts. Her face sported several small cuts to her cheeks and muzzle, and a large gash across her forehead, which was partially concealed by her disheveled hair.

Wesker sighed and tossed the child onto one of the chairs. Then he looked Krystal in the eye. He dashed forwards, ducking under the end of her staff just as she sent a bolt of flame shooting from the end. Once he was close enough he shot his fist up, striking the polearm between her hands, and snapping it clean in two.

Krystal gaped for a moment, a small piece of her heart breaking with the cherished weapon, before Wesker's other fist collided with the side of her muzzle, snapping her head to the side and stunning her. He followed that up with a knee to the chest that dropped her like a ton of bricks. Panting and wheezing Krystal set her eyes on her daughter and began to crawl towards her, willing the pain to go away. Which was difficult because Wesker was constantly punching the back of her head, which would drive her face into the floor.

This kept up only for a moment because Wesker soon grew tired of it and grabbed the woman by the neck. He picked her up and glared into her green eyes before throwing her thru the wall leading out into the small nurse's station, sending her crashing into a desk and reducing it to rubble. Krystal moaned and as she blacked out again, she saw figures rushing towards her…

Ten minutes ago…

A/N: If you have the CD, I suggest you play Disturbed's Down with the Sickness right now. And don't wait until they start singing, as soon as you hit the play button start reading. Now back to the madness.

Fox and Panther anxiously checked their gear. It was only a few minute flight from Fox's home to the hospital, what with no air-traffic to slow them down. About a minute after takeoff they received a call from David.

"Fox. Panther", the black feline said, "You have only one hour until the bomb is dropped. So I advise you move quickly."

Fox nodded, "Understood. Thanks."

As he reached to close the link the Emperor raised a hand, "Fox. I wanted to ask you. Could you keep an eye out for my sister? She was visiting a friend in the hospital when this all happened. I'd be eternally grateful if you could just get her out of there."

Again Fox nodded, "I'll do what I can."

Then they were there, sidling up to the side of the tall skyscraper. As they settled down the pilot came over the inter-COM and said, "We have to put you down in the street, there's been a wreck in the parking lot", an image of the area appeared on the view screen, "It's about a hundred yard stretch from the LZ to the hospital. We'll provide fire support up 'til the courtyard", the image zoomed in to show a covered courtyard about twenty yards across. A couple of spots were visible where hover-cars had crashed thru the structure, pillars of smoke pouring from the holes, "After that you guys are on your own."

Panther scoffed, "Too bad we don't have our armor or we'd just drop in."

Fox shrugged, muttering, "Yeah", as he moved to the back of the cabin. Once both he and Panther were in place he signaled the pilot to make the final decent by opening the back hatch. As soon as the ship hit the ground the two stepped out and the ship swung back up into the air. Almost immediately they had to fire at the undead, several dozen charging them. At first they stood their ground, picking their targets. But the little clock in the HUD kept ticking and Fox shouted, "Forget them! Just run!"

So he and Panther charged, only firing on the ones directly in front of them. Fox vaulted over a parked hover-car just before the shuttle blasted it to keep the zombies following them at bay. The blast barely even registered as Fox and his partner sprinted for the doors. About a minute later they entered the courtyard and heard the pilot say, "Good luck guys. We'll try to keep the crowd under control out here."

Looking around they saw that the area was clear, no zombies, just lots of mutilated corpses. Fox moved quickly over to a wall mounted map. Scanning it quickly he rapped a knuckle on a spot and said, "There. Fortieth floor", jerking his thumb over his shoulder he said, "That building. South side. Should be right across from the elevators. So we won't have to go far."

They had just started moving towards their destination when suddenly a showering of transparasteel fell down, right before the body of a human hit with a CRUNCH!

"Holy Shit", Panther shouted. Moving over to the man's body he looked him over, "This guy just had his day **fucked!**"

Laying next to the body was an old CEB-6. Fox scooped it up and looked it over. Upon finding it still worked he hit the readout button…14…and clamped it to his vest. Then the two moved forward. Immediately they were attacked, and Panther switched from his CEB-8 to his shotgun, using the powerful weapon to rend limbs and bodies from anything that got in his way.

After a brief firefight they were thru the main doors, forcing them shut just in time to stop a small horde of zombies. Fox panted and looked at his weapon's readout, which was flashing a bright red **0**.

"Holy crap… that was too close."

No sooner had those words left his mouth than they both heard a bunch of snarls. Slowly turning around they saw a group of zombies begin to move towards them. In order to keep them from charging, both Fox and Panther moved slowly as they reloaded. However, the high whine their weapons made as they charged seemed to rile them up, as several of the zombies howled and the mob charged. Fox switched his SMB to automatic and snapped it up, unloading fifteen rounds into the rushing group. Several zombies dropped, their heads now sporting smoking holes.

Panther followed a different strategy, waiting until his targets were closer so that the concentrated bolts would cause maximum damage. However, this strategy backfired when a mostly devoured wolf managed to blindside him. The black feline barely managed to get his shotgun between the two of them, shoving the barrel into his gut and pulling trigger, blowing a foot wide hole out his back. Shoving the corpse off he swung the weapon up and fired from the hip, taking a rat off at the hip, the severed torso spinning wildly before slamming to the ground.

The disfigured rodent looked up and snarled before dragging himself forwards, his jaws snapping and gnashing the air as he dragged his one remaining leg limply behind him. Panther sighted down his barrel and fired, turning the rat's head into a red splatter in the small crater the bolts make in the tile.

Fox ejected his empty charge, slamming a full one home before he ducked underneath a lunging zombie, his shoulder slamming into it's knee and forcing it face first into the shatterproof door, leaving a red trail to the floor. Then he resumed firing, again spraying into the crowd.

As his weapon read empty again he switched to his CEB-8, firing quickly, putting three shots into the face and neck of a rabbit who had come around a corner.

Then it was quiet.

Looking around slowly both Fox and Panther let out a sigh, before checking their gear. Not surprisingly they both had to reload.

Then they heard a roar.

They looked at each other before both tore off towards the elevators, following the signs hanging from the ceiling. As they found the gleaming metal doors they felt the floor start to rumble, whatever had roared had apparently found them. They ran into an open lift and slapped the fortieth floor button. As they turned around they saw another of those mutated zombies thundering down the corridor towards them. Both raised their weapons and fired as the doors slid closed. When the two halves slid closed, both slumped against the back wall. Fox raised his shaking left hand and took some time to clean a bit of gore off his face.

Panther growled and slapped the wall, "For fuck's sake! Those things are like tanks!"

Fox sighed, "Yeah. But at least they're just as stupid as the rest of…"

He stopped as the sound of tearing metal rang in his ears. Suddenly the lift lurched and they could hear the manual gears grinding under pressure. Fox looked at the display, which read 34. Snapping up his SMB he unloaded into the console, which shorted the system and stopped the lift. Fox crammed his metal hand into the doors and pried them open, showing they were actually stuck between floors. Panther jumped up and slid onto the upper floor as the floor of the elevator lurched under Fox's feet.

The vulpine jumped up and pulled himself in just as the mutant tore thru the floor. Fox looked down in fear before he looked at the top of the elevator at the cable assembly. The massive zombie struggled to fit his massive body inside the elevator as Fox aimed his SMB and fired the remaining bolts in his charge into the gears, melting the metal. There was a groaning sound, then the lift fell, the emergency brakes unable to stop the massive weight, and the lift fell all the way to the bottom, ending with the expected CRUNCH!!! Fox let out a shaky breath, his eyes wide, "Jesus Christ", he muttered under his breath. Then he happened to look down and saw that his left pant leg was torn, where apparently the 'tank', as Panther had called it, had attempted to grab him. He practically fell to his butt as he yanked the tattered leg up frantically looking for scratches. Finding none he covered his face with his hand and let out a frustrated breath, "That was too damn close."

Panther moved to an intersecting hallway and looked down the surprisingly clean hallway, "Hey. Stairs are over there."

Fox stood back up after scooping up his SMB. Sliding a fresh charge into place he said, "Let's get moving. We've got some ground to cover."

They moved to the door, both noticing the bloody handprints on it. Nodding to each other Panther entered first, his shotgun ready. When he saw it was clear they began running up flights of stairs. At the top of the first flight they heard blaster fire. Looking at each other Fox muttered, "Talk about déjà vu."

Then they ran, climbing faster. After a few minutes they neared the top. Two flights from their floor they heard a loud crash. This sound only spurred them on harder, and after a few seconds they burst out the broken door and scanned the area, weapons ready. Fox reached out with his mind, "Krystal?"

Then there was another crash from down the hall. The two took off running. They came around a corner to see a massive hole in a wall, leading into a medium sized room that had been totally trashed.

And lying in a heap of rubble on their side of the hole was the body of Krystal, lying in the ruins of a desk. Both men ran to her side, where Fox knelt down, pulling her to his chest, "Oh God Krystal!"

Then from the direction of the hole came a voice Fox despised more than that of Andross, "Hello Fox."

The tan vulpine clenched his fists, turning to face the blond human, who he could see was leaning against the hole, with his arm hanging behind him, "Albert Wesker", setting his wife down he stalked toward him, with murder in his eyes, "I'm gonna rip your fucking head off!"

The human simply stood up straight and brought his arm in front of him, which revealed him holding young Emily by the hair, "I think not", The man gave a jerk and pulled the girl up so she was now grasped under his arm, "You see I'm simply keeping my word."

The man backed into the room, moving towards the broken out window. Kneeling down slightly he grasped the leopard woman around the chest, and she struggled briefly since she had woken up. So he just squeezed, driving the air from her lungs.

Fox growled, "Let them go."

Wesker chuckled, "I told you I'd destroy your world, just as you destroyed mine. Your world is just a little bigger is all, more planets to work on."

Fox growled and snapped, "You destroyed your own world Wesker! I just put it out of it's misery."

Wesker shook his head, "No. I could have saved it. Those that survived the cataclysm were worthy to be ruled by me", looking down at the weakly struggling leopardess in his arms he smiled, "Originally I came here for her. After all the Emperor's sister is quiet a valuable asset", his gaze shifted to Emily's still form, "She was just a bonus."

The man stopped at the window, and suddenly Fox's eyes widened, "Don't do it Wesker."

However, the human simply smiled wider, "Consider this my declaration of war."

Then he threw them both out the window…

**End Chapter Ten**


	11. Time's Up

**I know it took a while and I'm sorry. but the damn computer wigged out me and deleted almost all of this chapter and I had to re-write it from memory. I hope it makes up for it by being awsome though.**

**Undead Fox**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Eleven: Drastic Measures**

Fox's heart rate skyrocketed as he watched his daughter disappear from view. He shouted, "NO", as he ran forwards. But he was sopped short by Wesker's boot landing in his chest, knocking him back. Luckily the armor plate in his vest absorbed most of the force, but it still hurt. Fox growled, knowing his daughter only had seconds left, and drew his CEB-8, holding it at his side as he charged an overload shot.

Wesker scoffed, "You of all people should know that I can dodge that."

Fox whipped the weapon up and brushed his thumb over a node on the side, deactivating the magnetic containment unit. All the energy contained in the chamber escaped as the entire battery dumped into a massive ball of sickly green energy building on the end of the gun, which was slowly melting in Fox's metal hand.

The vulpine snarled, murder in his eyes as he said, "Dodge it now", and released the trigger. As the ball of plasma slammed into Wesker Fox threw the gun away and ran again, juking past the engulfed Wesker and jumping out the window. He dug his metal fingers into the bottom of the balcony above and swung himself up, planting his feet on the bottom. Charging up the pupil in his left eye narrowed as adrenaline flooded his system, and again time slowed to a crawl. Releasing the power in his legs he launched himself towards the still falling figures below him, faster than the speed of sound.

He reached Emily first, quickly pulling her tight to his chest. Then he reached over and just managed to grasp the flailing hand of the Emperor's sister. It was at this moment that he realized the flaw in his plan, muttering, "Aw fuck", just before he felt something hit him in the back…

Back in the room…

The shockwave from Fox's supersonic kick went unnoticed by Wesker, who was shiverring, both with pain and adrenaline from the near miss. Opening his eyes he saw the shimmering liquid metal surface which surrounded him. He looked at his hands and shook again. What little of his skin that was not covered by clothing had been burned and all his clothes had hit their flashpoint the instant the ball of energy had struck his barrier. Luckily there was minimal oxygen in the sphere, so the flames died quickly, leaving him smoking and smoldering. He let out the breath he had been holding and lowered the barrier, letting the metal collect in front of him.

"Cocky little bastard almost got me with that one."

As he dropped the barrier he looked himself over and snorted when he saw the damage to his clothes and forearms. Then he noticed something odd. Instead fo merging back into his body, the metal fluid was instead floating in front of him, twisting and contorting, as if in pain itself. Reaching his hand out, the human glared and gave a slight jerk in surprise as suddenly the glimmering mass snapped back away from him. The man growled and lunged forward snatching at the shinning mass, but it shot up to the ceiling and then out the window, screaming towards the ground.

Wesker's jaw dropped in shock as he watched it disappear from view, the fingers on his outstretched hand twitching as he shouted, "What the fuck!?"

Then he heard something shift behind him. Whirling around he saw Krystal's battered body leaning against the hole it had made earlier. The blue vixen was shuddering in pain with one hand outstretched towards the window. The human stood there almost slack jawed and growled, "What have you done?!"

Krystal smirked, "I've just saved them", then she shifted her weary gaze to Wesker, "And condemned you."

Then she passed out, falling backwards, back into the destroyed aid's station, landing against one of the desks that hadn't been destroyed, her chin practically resting on her slowly rising chest. Wesker's left eye developed a tick as his anger boiled inside. Then he stormed towards her livid as a bull in a red room. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground holding her in front of him.

"You stupid bitch", he squeezed and Krystal gagged, and coughed as she sputtered back to conciousness. The human snarled and squeezed tighter, "What you have just done will make no difference. Even if they do survive the fall you will never see them again. Because I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to go down there and rip your pathetic husband's spine out and beat your little pissant brat to death with it", grinning he whispered, "What do you think about that?"

Krystal let out a wheezing laugh before she spit, her purple blood splatting onto his cheek.

Wesker was about to say something else when a black furred hand grabbed him under his jaw, while it's partner settled on the back of his head. With a violent and nauseating series of dull snaps Panther jerk Wesker's head to the side, snapping his neck. As the man's body dropped to the floor he moved quickly around in front and scooped Krystal up. The blue woman groaned and rubbed her sore neck as she muttered, "Think you waited long enough?"

Panther sighed, "Sorry. It was a bit trickier sneaking around behind him with all this shit on the floor", he looked down at the twitching body on the floor, "How long?"

Krystal shook her head, "A minute. Maybe."

Panther immediately started towards the stairs, "Then let's git while the gittin's good."

They'd only just reached the door when they heard a crash from behind them. Without pausing Panther yanked the door open. Moving quickly he set Krystal down on the stairs leading up before drawing his CEB-8. Pulling the door closed he saw Wesker was already up and moving towards them, albeit unsteadily, his spine obviously not completely reconnected.

As soon as the door shut Panther ripped the face off an emergency light fixture and ripped out a handfull of wires to a shower of sparks. Tying them together he wrapped one end around the manual doorknob, before depressing and holding the trigger down on his blaster. Onve his HUD monocle showed fully charged he pressed the same button that Fox had, causing the weapon to overload. Before it built up too much head the feline tied the other end of the wire around the weapon's trigger and propping it against the railing. Then he scooped Krystal back up and started moving upstairs. As they came to the last landing Panther opened his COM to the pilot, "Hey! I need pickup on the roof pronto!"

The pilot came back over saying, "Negative. There's no place to land on the roof."

Panther set Krystal down and took a breath, shouting, "Then **make **one dammit! There is no way for us to get back downstairs."

Then he heard the door three floors down slam, Wesker had reached it. Panther yanked his shotgun off his back and primed it, listening to it whine as the pilot said, "Roger that."

Then the floor under them shook, and there was the scent of ozone as plasma burned just outside. This was followed by a smaller blast as Wesker finally managed to compose himself enough to rip the stairwell door from it's hinges, releasing the overloaded blaster's charge. However it'd been charging so long that as soon as it tried to dump the energy containment failed and it simply blew up, destroying the landing, wall, and several feet of stairs going both up and down. There was silence for a moment, the only sound that of chunks of pulverized concrete falling and striking as yet undamaged lower levels.

Then the pilot's voice came over the COM, loud in the silence, "Get out here. The blast weakened the structural integrity of the roof, so be careful."

Panther swallowed, ignoring the voice in his ear as he scanned the hole for signs that Wesker had survived. There weren't any, but that didn't mean anything concerning the demented man. Turning around the feline nearly jumped out of his skin when he bumped into the blond man, who cocked his head to the side and smiled, "Hello", before grabbing the front of his vest and hurling him bodily thru the roof access door. The feline skittered on his back for a moment before he rolled over and landing on all fours, his boots and bare hands dragging in the rubble.

As he slowed to a stop Panther was forced to jump to the side as suddenly the roof gave under his feet in that place, collapsing down into a room below. Panther looked up just in time to dive and catch Krystal as Wesker threw her out next. The battered blue vixen crashed into the feline's chest, knocking him back against a wrecked air conditioning unit. Panther tapped his COM and said, "Hey forget landing. We've gotta do this the hard way."

The feline struggled back to his feet, glancing up as the dropship swung in from above, then back to the door, which now framed Wesker's livid form. The feline took note of the fact that the human was so furious that he had neglected to notice the Typhoon, it's engines disguised by the wind blowing fiercly and the fires burning down on the streets below. With Krystal draped over one arm the feline used his other to aim his shotgun at the man, being sure to let his arm waver, as if to show fear.

Wesker folded his arms and sneered, "You people disgust me."

Panther let out a slow breath and began to circle to Wesker's left, towards the edge of the roof were the Typhoon had dropped from view, "The feeling's mutual freak."

Wesker snorted, and Panther let out a minute sigh when he watched the man begin to take the bait and match their circle, going in the same direction. Once their backs were to the edge the human started towards them, forcing them backwards. Wesker smirked as they came to a jerking halt at the edge. Panther glanced over his shoulder at the drop. Then he looked back at the human and sighed. Dropping the shotgun he scooped Krystal up in his arms, turned around, and jumped.

Wesker balked, he hadn't expected him to do it. Then all of a sudden he saw something else he didn't expect, the form of Panther lifting back up above the roofline, Krystal still in his arms. Then they floated back away from the building, and Wesker saw the ship.

"Son of a bitch!"

Wesker's hand shot inside his jacket and he pulled out his old .45 from Earth. Aiming quickly he unloaded all nine rounds in their direction. He didn't see any strike as they dropped down thru an open hatch in the roof.

But that doesn't mean they didn't hit.

As the dropship pulled away from the building Krystal screamed in agony inside, clutching at the bullet hole in her side, just above her hip. Panther scrambled over to the medi-bed and set her down. Strapping her in he grabbed a first aid kit and shouted, "Get us out of here!"

However the pilot responded with, "What about McCloud?"

Panther flatered, pausing as he realized he'd completely forgotten about his friend, and the other half of the reason why they'd even come back down here. For the first time in a while he looked at the timer in HUD and felt his heart jump at the numbers he saw…

12:38

12:37

12:36

Panther slapped a bandage on Krystal's wound and said, "Hang on", then he opened a channel to Fox's COM, hoping that he still had it...

Fox felt something hit him, and a pain like a thousand needles stabbing him all at once. He hadn't felt this pain in over ten years. His eyes rolled back in his head as he felt liquid ice flood into his system. Then suddenly he felt a presence around himself. Opening his eyes he saw a large metal ball encircling all three of them.

Then he felt them stop.

It was a massive, jarring impact that rattled his bones, and he hoped to God that his charges were alright. Looking at the form clutched tightly to his chest he was releaved to see that Emily was still breathing, still crying softly into his chest. The vulpine kissed the top of her head before he looked over at the leopardess in his other arm. She was unconscious, but breathing. He shook her gently, "Wake up."

Then the barrier collapsed, and Fox watched in flow into the bottoms of his shoes, moulding to his legs up to his knees before disappearing. Looking around Quickly Fox realized how exposed they were. They had landed back in the courtyard, punching a fresh hole in the roof. Fox roughly shook the leopardess andshe jolted awake. Fox pulled his sub machine blaster off his back and fired a single shot into the forehead of a rushing mouse. Without looking at her he said, "Can you walk?"

The feline tried, but gasped as her left ankle gave out. Fox growled, "Perfect. I'll take that as a no." he put the now calm Emily down, "Sweetie, you'll have to run, because I have to carry this lady."

"Vanessa", the leopard said, "That's my name."

Fox scooped her up, "Nice to finally meet you", then he glanced at his HUD…

15:04

15:03

15:02

Fox swallowed, "Damn. We've got no time", looking down at his daughter he said, "Emily. You need to try and keep up, 'cause we need to go and hide", then he looked back to the woman in his arms, "Grab my blaster and try to cover us."

The woman nodded and plucked the weapon off his back and over his shoulder before he started running.

With the added weight in his arms Fox didn't have to worry about leaving Emily behind, but the going was still tough, the young vixen being naked and thus shoeless had to be careful not to injure he feet on all the debris littlering the ground. Thankfully the Typhoon had cleared the area of most of the undead. By the time they reached the LZ the clock read 12:36.

Suddenly Fox's COM barked. He let go of Vanessa's legs, letting her support herself on her good foot as he pressed a finger to his headset, "Panther? Is that you?"

The black feline's voice came back sounding relieved, but nervous all at the same time, "Fox! Thank the gods! Wesker shot Krystal. I have to get her to a real doctor so we can't pick you up."

Fox felt his blood run cold, "Oh God", then an idea hit him, "Panther go. We'll be fine. I've still got time to get us as far from the blast zone as possible and get underground. If it still works afterward I'll activate my emergency beacon so you can find us."

On the other end the feline nodded, "Good luck."

Fox closed the link and looked around. Fear rising as the clock ticked down, less than ten minutes. Spotting a police ground unit the vulpine said, "Emily get in that police car."

As the girl ran to the car Fox picked Vanessa back up and followed. Looking at her he said, "Sorry in advance", before tossing her roughly into the passenger seat. The sudden jolt caused a lance of extreme pain to shoot up her leg and she cried out. Fox slammed the door shut and slid over the hood before jumping into the driver's seat, shutting the door and watching with disdain as it fell off. He pressed his palm to the scanner and said, "Emergency military override 55497-FoxJamesMcCloud."

The engine purred to life as the computer said, "Welcome Captain McCloud. Your access has been logged."

Fox slammed the car into gear and tore off down the street after turning off the lights and sirens. No need to attract any more attention than they already were.

In it's monotonous voice the computer droned out, "Warning. Driver door is open. Driver seatbelt not fastened. Passenger seatbelt not fastened. Suspect seatbelt not fastened."

Glancing up Fox smirked seeing that there was still a shotgun racked on the roof of the one hand fromt eh wheel he yanked it down and handed it to Vanessa, "We'll need that."

"Warning. Driver door is open. Driver seatbelt is not fastened. Passenger seatbelt is not fastened. Suspect seatbelt is not fastened."

Fox glanced at his HUD again…

4:13

4:12

"Warning…"

The computer was cut off as Fox growled and buried his metal fist in the console. After another minute they came to a screeching halt and Fox jumped out of the car. Vanessa swung her door open and hopped out as well, hobbling around to Fox's side as he let his daugter out of the back seat. Then he pointed at a building, "Emily stand by the door."

The girl did as she was told as her father ran over to scoop up Vanessa. Fox set her down, "You'll have to move on your own for now", looking at his daughter he said, "Emily you stay right beside Vanessa. Do not leave her side."

Then he drew his sub machine blaster again and moved quickly thru the door, right past the sign reading** Main Lobby**. He quickly took in his corners before moving to the elevators. He pressed his back to the wall and elbowed the button, covering the others as they moved slowly towards him, Vanessa struggling to carry the shotgun and keep her balance as she hobbled forward. The doors parted and both she and Fox raised their weapons. Luckily the elevator was empty. The three stepped inside before Fox hit the button marked **B3**. The elevator dropped quickly. As the doors parted the automated voice said, "Level Three…Armory, Teleporter Control, Gunsmith, Training Hall."

They moved quickly down the dimly lit corridor, Fox with his weapon raised as he glanced at the timer…

1:24

1:23

1:22

…Fox pointed to the right as they came to an intersection, "It's just this way."

They entered a room marked **Training Hall **as the timer hit 0:45. Fox locked the door behind him and flopped down on a weight bench, hoping against the odds that they were far enough under ground. Emily walked nervously over to him and he dropped his weapon to the ground in order to scoop her up in a hug. He glanced at the leopardess across from him, who had practically collapsed onto the floor, sweat and a look of pain showing on her face.

Fox sighed and watched as the timer ticked down

0:10

0:09...

**End Chapter Eleven**


	12. Author's Note

**Authors note**

**Hey folks Undead Fox here.**

**My laptop got a bug about two weeks ago and had to be pretty much gutted. Unfortunately that means i lost a lot of my files. **

**But fear not! I have been able to recover most of Starfox Evil book 2 and have begun re-writing chapter twelve as we speak, type, whatever. Point is, unless I hit a wall, we should hopefully see chapter twelve up soon.**

**Keep up the faith my readers, I have not given up on this story!**


	13. Pain Redefined

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Twelve: Pain Redefined**

Forty-five miles outside Cornaria city limits…

Royal Lylatian naval pilot Captain Nathaniel "Bootleg" Flint settled into the pilot seat of his Mark IX RA-wing bomber. He sighed as his hamster co-pilot, Commander James "Wizard" Merlin settled into the seat directly behind him, "You know, I never thought I'd be bombing one of our own cities."

His co-pilot reached forward and patted the husky's shoulder, "Let's just get this over with."

With that the bomber lifted into the air and tore off thru the sky.

Within a minute they passed over the massive city's furthest suburbs, moving towards the city center. After another few minutes they reached their target. Captain Flint flicked a switch and the computer locked onto a large skyscraper. After a moment the screen flashed in red letters, "TARGET LOCKED."

The pilot closed his eyes and whispered in ancient Titanian, "أسأل الله أن يغفر لي"(Allah forgive me.)

The high yeild nova bomb dropped out the bottom hatch and then rocketed into the building, punching down thru floor after floor as the bomber turned and kicked on the after burners, roaring back the way they came.

When the sensors in the warhead read that the bomb was eighty feet from the ground it detonated, and in a bright blue flash fifty square blocks was instantly glassed, while the rest of the city was set ablaze in the massive firestorm that followed. Buildings were torn apart and collapsed in the shockwave, and millions of bodies were flash fried to ash and bone.

In their basement refuge Fox clutched tightly to the panicing Emily as she screamed when the blast hit, the super-crete walls and ceiling cracking under the strain. Fox's sensitive ears heard the floor above them collapse and he hugged his daughter tighter, "Oh God. Not like this."

He was spared from further thought as a large chunk of ceiling fell and struck his square between the ears…

In the sickbay onboard the the _Scott Pepper…_

Krystal sat in her medical bed, propped up as the doctor tended her wounds.

"Two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, cracked femur, bruised windpipe, three crushed fingers, and one projectile gunshot wound, on top of numerous superficial wounds. You are lucky to be alive", the blue jay doctor said as he applied the final bandage, "The specialist will be in in a few hours to regenerate new skin for your external wounds. So try to get some sleep until then."

Krystal shook her head slowly, "I don't think so. With all the pain and fear going around I won't be sleeping anytime soon."

The blue feathered doctor rolled his eyes, "Just try Mrs. McCloud."

Then he promptly left and Krystal sighed, "Great. He obviously doesn't have my records yet."

In the main conference room, three decks up…

Panther stood before the Emperor and his surviving advisor, who he now learned was Colonel Robert Blackwater. Also in the room was Peppy, who had caught another transport up.

Panther stood ill at ease, his hands clasped behind his back as he delivered the bad news.

"I'm sorry Sir. But the last time I saw your sister was when Wesker threw her out that window. However there is a chance she survived. She was with Fox last I spoke to him. They were trying to get away from the city center. I managed to catch a glimpse of a police ground unit moving north before a building cut off my view. Judging by how fast it was moving if that was them then they should have cleared the glass zone. And if they got underground then they might be alive."

David sighed and leaned on the table, "We'll start search and rescue back up once the radiation clears. Let's just hope they made it."

Panther stepped a little closer, "Peppy. How long will it take for the area to be survivable?"

The elderly hare sighed, "The air will be breathable after just a couple hours, but only for short times, ten minutes or so. Exposure time will only extend by tomorrow at the earliest. And there will still be pockets of radiation all over the place where it settled."

Panther sighed and moved over to a viewport, "Hold on guys."

The first thing Fox heard was a soft sobbing. Groaning he tried to move, and found he couldn't. opening his eyes he saw nothing but black. So he switched his right eye to infra-red. He saw a small shivering form pinned beneath him and groaned, "Emily?"

The girl jumped, not expecting to hear his voice, "Daddy", she squeaked, "It hurts."

Fox looked around as best he could. Apparently the room had collapsed. Fox was glad that he'd carried Vanessa for as long as he did, for it had allowed him to build a mental link with her. He reached out and didn't like what he felt, her mind was only weakly there, she was hurt badly. Returning his attention to his daughter he looked her over as best he could wincing when he saw her left leg bent at an angle it definitely wasn't supposed to be.

"Oh sweety, hang on."

Fox searched inside, and was relieved to find that the old anomaly was still there. He looked it over with his mind and managed to figure out how to tap into it. Then he braced himself and shoved upwards. The rubble above him shifted easily and he found that only their end had given out, but what horrified him was when he saw Vanessa. She was half pinned underneath a massive chunk of ceiling, which looked like it was crushing her. Fox scooped Emily up and winced as she cried in pain, before he set her down in the open, "Hang on I'll be right back", then he moved over to Vanessa's side. Grabbing the processed rock he heaved, only mildly surprised when it moved easily. Fox looked the leopardess over and grimaced, it wasn't pretty. Both her legs were almost flattened, and he could tell that her pelvis had been crushed. If she survived she would need cybornetic replacements, she'd never be able to have children. And that was only if they were found soon.

Judging from the extent of her wounds Fox gave her twelve hours at most. He turned back around and looked at Emily's leg. The femur was snapped clean in two, and again at just below her knee, but the rest of her looked fine, only a cut on her forehead. He looked at her and said, "I have to touch it. To see how bad it is."

Emily nodded and clenched her fists as she held her arms tight to her chest.

Fox moved as gently as he could and settled his left hand onto her thigh, feeling the break as she cried out. Tears ran from his left eye as he hurt her like this, but luckily it seamed that the artery wasn't cut, so they didn't need to worry about bleeding inside. Then he moved down. As he neared the second break Emily whimpered, "Please no Daddy! Don't touch it!"

Fox closed his eyes, "Alright. I won't."

Then he scooted up and sat next to her. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder he rubbed her arm and kissed her head. Emily sniffed and hugged him before saying, "I don't wanna die down here Daddy."

Fox let out a breath, "Don't worry. I'm sure they've already got people looking for us. We'll be out of here in no time. Especially once I tell Mommy where we are."

Emily looked him in the eyes, "Really? Promise?"

Fox smiled, "Promise. Just try to sleep."

Then he reached out with his mind, "Krystal. Can you hear me?"

Onboard the _Scott Pepper_…

Krystal sighed, watching out the window as ships docked with the station, until she saw a familiar silhouette against the planet below. A few minutes later the sickbay doors opened and in ran Falco, "Mom!"

Krystal extended her arms and smiled, "Haha. Oh thank God you're alright!"

Then Fara walked in with Panther right behind. The two stopped and Fara smiled, "How are you Krystal?"

The blue vixen smiled as she hugged Falco tighter, "I'm fine. The doctor fixed me up pretty good", she glanced at a clock, "But my dose of painkillers should activate any minute. So I'm afraid I won't be with you very long."

It was at that moment that the machine beside her bed activated and they all watched a clear fluid slide down an I.V. tube into her arm. The vixen's pupils dilated and a goofy grin came onto her face, "Hehheh . The room's spinning."

Fara and Panther snikkered to each other before the feline said, "We'll leave you alone for now. Hopefully you'll be awake before I head back down to help look for survivors."

He would've said more but Krystal's head spun slightly before she flopped backwards and started snoring. This time the other adults couldn't help it and both of them broke up laughing as they walked out.

Falco just curled up beside his mother, one arm draped across her bandaged stomach. He laid there for a while before falling asleep himself.

A few hours later Falco was awoken to his mother saying his name. He groggily opened his eyes and saw that he had wound up crawling on top of her. Looking at her face he watched tears stream down her face for a second before he realized that her painkillers had worn off, and he quickly scrambled off her. The vixen let out a relieved breath, "Thank you."

Falco stood next to the bed and grabbed his mother's hand, "I'm sorry."

Krystal smiled, "Oh don't worry about it honnie. I'm just glad you're safe."

Then she heard Fox's voice, "Krystal. Can you hear me?"

The vixen closed her eyes, "Yes."

Falco moved closer, "Are you talkin' to Dad?"

The vixen raised a hand , "Yes. I understand Fox", then she opened her eyes, "Go find Uncle Panther."

Two hours later the black feline was sitting in a dropship heading down to the surface. Although there were almost a hundred dropships coming in, he was in the only one heading towards the glass zone. He along with several others, including Will, who had been lucky enough to be on the first shuttle up with his sister, and Leon Scott-Kennedy. There were eight of them in total, each encased in a set of hazardous environment BPFs, the reinforced armor plates closer together, covering a thicker mesh between which would provide better protection from the neutrino radiation they were dropping into. Each of them had a small supply of potassium injectors in case of a breach and exposure, not to mention first aid kits and emergency rations.

The shuttle leveled off about forty feet up, the pilot saying, "Here we are. I'll be waiting."

Then the back hatch opened and everyone's Geiger counters spiked, clicking rapidly. But they each stepped out the back, dropping to the shinning surface, sending cracks in every direction. Panther pulled up a map of the city. Pointing at an intersection he said, "Alright guys. We are here. We need to move that way, two hundred ten yards."

They moved in the indicated direction. When they had gone far enough Panther said, "Alright. Start chipping. If they're here, then they'll have gone downstairs into one of the basement levels."

Then Will walked over while the others set about with metal rods, poking at the glass surface, "Hard to believe that yesterday this was Starfox Headquarters."

Panther nodded, "Yeah", then he pulled out his own rod, "Let's get to work."

It took them another hour 'til somebody struck pay dirt, one of the rods breaking thru into a shaft leading down. It was partially collapsed in on itself, but they could still see down to the bottom. Panther turned to the gathered men, "Alright. You and you, first floor. You and you, second. Will and I will take the third level while you two stay up here to relay transmissions. With all the radiation I doubt our COMs will be able to go very far."

They each decended to their appropriate levels, Panther and Will dropping into the jammed elevator, which was stopped at level three. The two were not surprised to find no power working other than a few dim emergency lights that hadn't blown out in the blast. The two looked around, moving forwards. They came to the first door and pried it open, "Transporter control room clear."

The next door was already open. The two mercenaries looked at each other before drawing a CEB-8 each. They both burst thru the open door and swept the Armory quickly. Though the room was empty, they were surprised to see several weapons missing. They looked at each other before leaving, making sure to force the door shut. They moved further down. As they passed thru an intersection they had to dive for cover as blaster bolts struck the walls and floor around them. They each ducked against the wall on either side of the offending hallway. Panther shot a glance down there and saw what looked like a table across a doorway. When he saw movement on the other side he said, "Hold your fire!"

And he let out a sigh of releafe when he heard, "Panther?"

The armored feline stepped out and put his hands up, "Fox?"

And he let a relieved smile cover his face as Fox stepped out into the hallway, his shoulders slumped, "You're too late…"

Then Fox just broke down and started crying, and Panther knew the worst. Rushing to the door he looked inside and saw Emily slumped against a chunk of rubble, her left leg swolen massively where her femoral artery had been ruptured inside her leg by the break beneath her knee. The black feline cringed and slammed his fist against the doorframe. Then he looked over and saw Vanessa , also dead from her injuries. The feline muttered, "Damn", before turning back around. Will had come up and wrapped Fox up in a hug, trying to comfort his boss and friend.

However they were forced to cut his mourning short when the ceiling suddenly buckled above them, collapsing partially. Will gave Fox a tug and they ran as the corridor began to cave in around them. Panther slapped his COM and shouted, "Everybody out now!"

The three reached the lift shaft and began to scramble up the large pile of rubble, reaching the halfway point where the drop ropes were dangling. They managed to haul themselves out just in time, the hole collapsing around them.

As the shaft finished collapsing everyone took a relieved breath. It took a moment, but then the rescuers all noticed the sobs. Each of them turned slowly to see Fox on his knees, head in his hands with tears streaming from his left eye in torrents. Panther sighed, "Will? Call it in", then he walked over and knelt at Fox's side, "I'm so sorry Fox."

The tan vulpine dropped forwards onto all fours, "I failed her. I couldn't save her."

Panther moved to rest a hand on Fox's shoulder, but stopped when he felt a tremor. He looked up at the others and saw them looking around, wondering where the shake had come from. Then they felt another one, this one more pronounced. Then Panther heard the growling. Turning his confused eyes on Fox he saw a single drop of silver fall and land between his hands.

"Fox?"

Then another pulse shook the ground, this one strong enough to crack the glassed surface.

Every rescuer stumbled, and Panther's jaw dropped as he heard Fox growled, "**WESKERRRRR**!!"

The feline scrambled backwards as the ground gave an extra violent lurch under their feet, sending glash shards splintering into the air. His eyes snapped back to Fox as the vulpine reared up onto his knees, his hands planted on his temples and roaring to the skies. Several of the rescuers moved in Fox's direction, believing the ground was about to collapse beneath him. However they all stopped when their eyes watched silver liquid flood out of Fox's mouth. The fluid conformed to his body, sliding over every inch. They watched as Fox's hands clenched into fists, until he pulled them away, ripping large chunks of flesh off his scalp. Blood ran down his face for just a moment before it was replaced by liquid silver.

After a few moments of anxious silence, only broken up by the now steady and violent pulses which were apparently caused by Fox, the liquid stopped moving, now covering Fox's entire body. Now all that remained were the pulses, which vibrated the ground,causing glass to crack into finer and finer slivers and shards. Then Fox stopped moving, he just froze, his arms outstretched with this hands still balled into fists, blood dripping from between his fingers, his head thrown back in a silent roar

"Fox? Are you alright", Will whispered as he slowly walked past Panther's stunned form. The mouse reached forward, moving to place a hand on Fox's arm, "Fox?"

As soon as the rodent's gloved fingers touched his arm the liquid silver rushed at blinding speed back to Fox's gaping maw, which snapped shut as the last of it disappeared. The vulpine's arms then slumped to his side. His eyes were cold, a dark hatred burning in them. Fox looked at the mouse and growled, "I'm gonna kill him."

Will knelt down and tilted his head, "Fox there is no way Wesker survived."

The vulpine tapped his temple, "Yes he did. I can feel him. He survived. But when I get my hands on him he'll wish he been cooked in the blast", Fox's fists clenched tighter, his metal hand giving off a series of dull metallic pops, "Because when I find him I'm gonna rewrite his definition of pain."

Nobody doubted him for a second…

**End Chapter Twelve**


	14. Conflict Begins

**Undead Fox here! This note is just to introduce a new character, who was created by Fox Mustang. **

**Micheal Schmidt.**

**Congrats to you Mustang for being the first to answer the movie reference from chapter three.**

**And to everyone else, enjoy the new chapter.**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Thirteen: Conflict Begins**

Fox stood with his arms crossed on the bridge of the _Great Fox II_, staring out at the stars as he listened to the Emperor speak over the news broadcast.

"…Yesterday, a terrible atrocity was commited against the empire. Fourteen million dead, including my sister Vanessa, all killed by a…"

Fox watched out the window as a fleet of ships assembled.

"…This as yet unnamed group has declared war against all that we hold dear…"

Fighters and bombers flew by in tight delta formations, their engines leaving bright blue trails of plasma that slowly dissipated.

"…Now saying they are unnamed does not mean we don't know who they are…"

Fox turned and walked towards the holo-pad, looking up at the form of his friend and leader.

"…We have received intelligence that this enemy is making their second offensive on the penal colony of Tigress Four. As such I have assem…"

The transmission was cut off as Fox pressed a node. He walked back over to his captain's chair and sat in it for the first time in almost eleven years, "ROB?"

The android turned to face Fox and said in his loud and monotonous voice, "YES FOX?"

The vulpine looked at the machine, "Is the crew on-board?"

Instead of the machine Krystal answered, her voice accompanied by the sound of the doors to the bridge opening as she and someone else came in, "Everyone's here Fox."

The blue vulpine took her seat beside her husband who gave a soft smile to her before looking over his shoulder, "So you're the pilot the Emperor sent me?"

The target of this question was a black coyote, dressed in a dark grey jumpsuit. When Fox stood to get a better look at him he saw that the canine had a massive scar over the left side of his face, the skin pale and exposed. What Fox could see of his neck showed a single white stripe running down the center of his throat. When Fox looked back to his face he noticed that his left eye was of the same design as Fox's own right eye, only the blue iris was a very bright red.

The coyote saluted and said, "Commandah Micheal Schmidt at yah sahvice Sah!"

Fox arched his brow at the overly formal accent but shrugged, "Take the helm Commander", Fox's console beeped and he typed a command. After a moment to read the message that popped up he smirked, "Park us at the head of the fleet. Right next to the _Enterprise_", placing his fingertips together he stared coldly out the main viewport again as ships drifted by, "We're going to war."

However instead of moving into formation with the other ships the power on the _Great Fox II _suddenly went out.

"Oh what the hell", Fox shouted as he drifted towards the ceiling, the artificial gravity obviously down as well.

The answer came from new pilot, "Sorry Sah. I'm not familiah with this control scheme. Must've caused an overload."

Fox's eye twitched, "Perfect! ROB get on the COM with the _Enterprise_. Tell them to jump first, we'll catch up."

The robot nodded, "YES FOX."

Meanwhile Fox drifted towards the doors. After prying them open he said, "I'm going to give Slip a hand in engineering", looking up towards the projector in the ceiling, "Diana?"

Although the projector stayed dead, the bearess's voice did come over the COM, "Yeah?"

Fox jerked his chin in the direction of the warp gate, which had already admitted the fleet and was now powering down, "Once Slip and I get power back up get us thru that gate", looking at the coyote who was looking incredibly embarrassed, "As for you. Get to work configuring that console for your use. I need you ready to fly my ship once we leave warp."

Again the coyote saluted, "Yes Sah!"

But before he could say more Fox had already turned his back and left, pulling himself down the corridor. The black canine sighed, "Well now Ah've gone and made a rahght arse of mahself."

Krystal shook her head, "Don't take it personal Micheal. He's not angry at you."

Then she looked away, and Micheal didn't press the subject. He simply turned and began to customize the console, reconfiguring it more to his liking.

Meanwhile Fox had been making his way to engineering. It was slow going with no gravity, every single movement having an effect on his ability to control himself. But after twenty minutes he managed to reach the right deck and door. He pried the door open and shouted, "Slippy! Where the heck are you?"

The toad's voice came from behind the main reactor, which sat only glowing dimly, minimal power showing. The frog stuck his head out, which was covered in grease and grime, "The frickin' plasma converter is fried. Give me a hand and we'll be good to go in twenty minutes."

Fox sighed, "Sure."

As they snapped the new component into place Fox opened a COM to the ship, "Everybody take a seat, we'll be back online in a second."

No sooner had his boots hit the deck then there was a loud hum and the power core lit up bright purple. After a few moments the lights and gravity kicked back on. Slippy came tumbling out of the access corridor and wiped some grime from his hands. He walked over to a console and tapped the panel, "We are green across the board", turning Slippy gave Fox a thumbs up, "We're good buddy."

Fox patted his green shoulder, "Good."

As he turned to leave Slippy shouted, "Wait!"

Fox stopped and sighed, "Yeah?"

Slippy walked around in front of his friend and said, "Listen, Fox. I don't want to see you do this for the wrong reasons."

Fox narrowed his eyes, "The wrong reasons?"

Slippy scratched at the back of his neck nervously, "Because of Emily I mean. I understand that this is an important mission, getting Wesker and all…"

Fox shook his head and growled, "You cannot possibly understand what it's like. You still have Amanda, and your boys are safe with her on Papetoon", Fox's growl deepened and he slammed his right hand onto the wall, leaving a sizable dent, "You never had to sit and watch one fo them bleed to death in your arms while you could hear rescue moving around on the surface only thirty feet away", he bared his fangs, the metal ones gleaming almost on their own, "You never had to lie, like I did. Never had to tell them it would be alright even though you knew it wouldn't."

Slippy was about to say something when he noticed the first silver droplet escape Fox's left eye. The frog's own large eyes bulged wider and he slapped his COM, "Krystal!"

However the vixen's voice didn't come from the COM system. It came from the doorway behind Fox, "I know Slip", then she took Fox's left hand in both of her's and whispered in his ear, "Fox. Listen to my voice."

Slippy backed off as they all felt the ship give a suft lurch, implying that they had entered the warp gate. Fox shook his head and clenched his fists as he took a deep breath and straightened his back, letting out a slow controlled breath. When his pained eyes met Slippy's the frog was met with the sight of silver retreating back into Fox's eye as the vulpine said, "You have no idea what it's like, so don't you dare say otherwise."

He then stormed out of engineering, heading straight to the lift and down to the holo-deck. Krystal looked at Slippy and sighed, "I'm sorry Slip, he's taking it very hard."

The frog raised his hands and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I just don't want him losing his head when we get close is all."

Then the frog gestured to the blue vixen and asked, "So how are you holding up?"

Krystal walked over to a chair and sat down, rubbing her temple, "About as well as can be expected. I know that now is not the time to mourn", a tear rolled downhe cheek and she sniffed as she wiped it away, "We need to get Wesker. Then we c-can", then it was like a switch had been flipped and Krystal began to openly sob, "Oh God my baby! She's gone!"

Slippy moved to comfort her, but didn't figure he'd be much use so instead he just gently hugged her. After a few moments she stood up and wiped her eyes, "I'm going to go lay down. Tell Fox when we leave the gate."

Without another word she left engineering and headed up a few levels to her and Fox's private quarters, where she threw herself on the bed and let the floods go.

Meanwhile Fox had entered the holo-deck and was sitting in a chair, watching family videos. The currant one was of Emily's third birthday.

The three dimensional image in front of him showed Emily sitting at the table, Falco on her right, Peppy on her left, with two empty chairs across from her. The camera shifted as suddenly Fox's metal hand came into view and he said, "Look what Mama's got!"

The child turned in her seat and shrieked when she saw Krystal enter carrying a massive birthday cake covered it white frosting, "Lookit Gampa! CAAAAKE!"

Everybody chuckled as the image of the blue vixen settled the cake in front of her daughter and said, "Now blow out the candles sweetie and make a wish."

The shild leaned forwards and blew as hard as she could, her cheeks puffing out and her ears flushing with the strain. The holographic candles flashed out, leatting smoke into the image as everyone smiled. The camera was set down and Fox came into view, leaning over and hugging his daughter, "Happy birthday baby."

The real Fox stood up and walked forwards, passing thru the image of himself to stand by Emily's young side. He reached out and stroked the holographic child's cheek, feeling nothing but smiling anyway and saying, "I'm so sorry Emily."

Then he felt the ship lurch slightly as it left the warp gate. The next thing he heard was Diana coming over the COM shouting, "Fox get up here!"

The vulpine's head snapped towards the ceiling beore he tore off towards the lift on the other end of the deck. After a few minutes he burst out onto the bridge, shouting, "What is it? HOLY HELL!!!"

Fox could see out the main window that the fleet was engaged with a massive ship. Roughly egg shaped, the vessel was roughly the size of the moon. Fox hopped the rail right into his seat and said, "Diana what is that thing?"

The holographic bear shimmered into being , "I have absolutely no idea. It seems to be a conglomerate of ships all fused together. I'm having a hard time making heads or tails of it."

The bearess was about to say more when a lance of energy shot from the massive vessle's 'nose' and speared heavy cruiser that was closing on it. The beam of energy went right thru the shields like they were nothing, boring thru the hull plating and searing thru decking in a flash of breen light. Before the energy beam had a chance to dim the power on the cruiser flickered out, and the large ship began to list to one side as it drifted lifelessly.

This was the case for numerous vessles, including the pride of the fleet, the _Mjolner_, a battleship measuring roughly two miles long. The streamlined vessel was armed with six supernova launchers, along with two super plasma cannons, one each fore and aft. However all this firepower was useless, three of the launchers smoldering, spewing plasma into space, and the cannons dark as the cracked hull vented atmosphere.

Fox turned to Commander Shmidt and shouted, "Commander! Move us closer", slapping the COM he shouted, "Slippy get up here!"

A few minutes later Slippy came rushing thru the door, "Analysing now Fox."

A few seconds later he said, "Analysis up!"

The holodisplay in the middle of the room lit up and a HUD appeared in front of the main viewport. Across the top was a shield bar representing the enemy's shield strength. Various other readouts appeared showing power output, velocity, and other vital stats.

Fox's eyes quickly scanned the display as Diana materialized beside it. Her image had changed slightly with ten years of upgrades, giving her a long white robe and letting her hair grow to shoulder length, "This thing is a monster Boss. It's shields look like they wouldn't even be faze by one of the orbital guns."

The display turned transparent for a moment as Slippy said, "That would explain all the extra debris in orbit. Scans show the debris matches materials from the orbital guns", the frog typed furiously, "With one exception all the guns have been destroyed."

Fox typed onto his console, working out tactical options, "Show it to me."

The display changed to show the last gun. It was one of the newer models, but it's three massive guns were dark, and there was a massive hole in the side of the station where it's control deck should have been. Just then the display shifted as Diana shouted, "Warning! Power spike detected!"

Out in space they each saw the massive's ship launch another lance of energy and cut into the _Posiedon_, a carrier that had luckily launched all it's fighters, though they were proving ineffective against their enemy. Fox moved towards the hologram and said, "Hold it! Replay from the point where the vessel fired."

The image scrolled backwards until Fox shot his hand out, "There!"

The image showed the lance of energy frozen in space on it's way to the _Posiedon_. The area around the beam as it moved thru the shields was heavily distorted, and Fox pointed to that spot, "Is that what I think it is?"

Slippy walked over and said, "If you think it's them dropping their shields to fire that weapon then yes it is", Slippy leaned in closer and scratched his chin, "Downside is there's only about twelve yards clearance from the beam", he clicked the image ahead a few frames, "And only a few seconds window."

Fox suddenly got an idea, "Diana. Get in touch with General Pepper. Ask him to coordinate with the orbital grid's ground control center for directed fire."

The bearess nodded and tilted her head back as she processed th command. Meanwhile Slippy looked at his friend and said, "Fox, what are you thinking?"

Diana spoke first though, "Fox, general Pepper said that the control center hasn't responded to any hails since they've arrived. Imaging shows the facility is still relatively intact, but it had taken a pounding before the fleet's arrival. It appears that enemy ground troops have taken a foothold in the compound."

Fox scratched his chin for a moment and then said, "Helm full stop!"

Commander Schmidt nodded and typed quickly, saying, "Ansahing full stop Sah."

The vulpine then said, "Diana! Take control, move us closer to the ship", he pointed at Schmidt, "Come with me. Slippy come on."

The three left the bridge. As they neared the lift the doors parted and Krystal came out, "Fox what's going on out there?"

Fox grabbed her arm and guided her past them, "Krystal you're in command. I'm taking the boys out to stop this."

Krystal would have said something, but stopped at the look her husband gave her. Nodding slowly she said, "Good luck."

Fox nodded and the three moved into the lift. They dropped quickly as Fox explained the plan, "Commander, you and Slippy will take a large team down to the surface. Retake the control room. I will lead a smaller squad onboard the enemy ship and take out their shields", the lift doors parted, revealing the barracks. Fox stepped out and whistled shrilly, "Everybody listen up!"

After taking a few minutes to explain he said, "Alice! Leon! John! You three are coming with me. The rest of you gear up for a ground assualt and head to the launch bay. Will, you'll lead the ground team", turning to his teammates who had stepped over to him he said, "Let's stop at the armory. We'll need to refit you guys."

The four of them left as the other twenty mercenaries collected themselves. They walked into the armory and Fox unlocked the weapon's cabinet, "Gear up for close to medium range."

Each of them grabbed a Light Automatic Blaster and clamped the small weapon to their backs. John reached up and grabbed a large Heavy Blaster Repeater. Fox grabbed a Shotgun Blaster and slid in a fresh charge as Leon and Alice each grabbed a Light Blaster Carbine. They each grabbed extra charges and replaced the armored plates in their tan BPFs with thicker ones meant for close combat.

Each of them set their helmets in place and left, heading for the launch bay. Upon entering they all headed towards the new Typhoon Mark XXI-B. Meant for spec-ops and ship to ship boarding, the smaller vessel sported short stubby wings, with a single ball turret set into the end of each. The bottom sported magnetic clamps and a single use flash torch for boarding. It also was covered in radar absorbing plates that made it invisible to all but the naked eye.

Fox climbed in first and headed right for the pilot's seat, which was unoccupied. Sitting down Fox flipped on the COM and said, "Krystal. Once we're clear take the others to the surface. Drop them off as close as you can to the control center. Then I want you to pull out and get the hell out of here", the vixens tarted to complain but her husband cut her off, "Krystal things are gonna get messy, and I don't want you anywhere near here when the shit hits the fan."

Krystal sighed, "Fine. I love you Fox."

Fox smiled into the COM, even though it was audio only and she couldn't see him, "Don't worry. I'll be back."

He then killed the link and turned to his passengers, "Everybody buckle up, this is gonna be a rough ride."

Lifting up off the deck he turned the ship and they blasted out into space, moving towards the enemy ship which had just blasted a massive hole into the carrier _Hermes_. The ship was still mobile though, and it's guns launched an assualt, their energy bolts tearing thru the blackness of space to impact on the enemy's shields. This was followed by a salvo of nova bombs, which detonated in a chain of blue-white explosions against the enemy's shields, which flared brightly under the impact, but stayed active.

Fox punched it as he saw the enemy's main gun charging in retaliation. As he drew to one thousand yards the enemy fired, and the lance of energy punched thru the _Hermes's_ already damaged shields, sliced thru deck after deck until it found the reactor. There was a blinding flash and the small dropship rocked as the _Hermes_ and all five thousand of her crew ceased to exist. Fox grimaced at the momentary brilliance, but pushed onwards. However he was forced to break off sharply as the shields closed over the gap.

"Damn it", Fox shouted as he felt their own shields scrape against the enemy's. All he could do was hope that the enemy hadn't noticed the fluxuation caused by their brief contact. Fox banked sharply and moved back out to around one hundred yards out and settled in, matching their position. To his chagrin he watched as the entire fleet backed off, giving the enemy a wide berth. Fox opened a COM to the _Enterprise_, "This is shuttle Alpha 347 of _The Great Fox II_, Captain McCloud speaking. Who's in command over there?"

The face of an arctic wolf popped up, "This is Commadore Jean-Claude Von Braugn. Captain McCloud what are you doing out there?"

"I've got a plan to take this enemy down. I need one of your ships to draw the enemy into firing that weapon of theirs so their shields will drop. Once they do I will slip inside with my team and we'll disable them. At which time the remainder of my men will retake the ground control center for the orbital guns."

The Commodore rubbed the top of his muzzle, "Mr. McCloud the orbital guns have been destroyed."

Fox shook his head, "Not all of them. One of the guns is still in tact, for the most part. It's still receiving power, but it's command deck has been obliterated. Scans showed that the ground control center is in lockdown and overrun. If we can take it back then…"

Fox was cut off as the Commodore raised a hand, "Mr. McCloud I'm afraid I simply cannot go foreward with your plan. It is too large a risk with too small a chance for success."

Fox gawked, "This is our best chance Commodore!"

The white fox clenched his jaw, "I disagree."

Then he killed the link. Fox snarled, "Shit!"

He was reaching for the COM to call again when the first salvo hit the enemy ship. Dozens of energy bolts and nova bombs impacted the enemy ship. Fox watched as it's shields flickered and buckled. But he was astounded by the fact that they stayed active, even after the massive pounding they just took. He was, however, even more surprised by the enemy's retaliation. The massive ship rotated to face the fleet, revealing a second of the lance guns beside the first. Then with a continuous beam it fired, the two beams forming into one and slicing a dozen ships clean in two. Each of those vessles exploded and did crippling damage to others near them.

Fox felt his jaw drop, dozens of thousands of soldiers just died before his very eyes. His jaw clenched and he slammed his natural hand down on the console.

"Unable to comply. Direction unclear."

Fox ignored the computer's monotonous voice and slammed the throttle down. The shuttle launched forwards, towards the rapidly closing shields. Kicking on the afterburners he just managed to squeak by, having to shut down his own shields in order to fit, and nearly overloading the brakes in an attempt to keep from plowing into the hull. Correcting their new trajectory quickly he settled onto the hull behind the main deflector disk, locking the magnetic clamps and securing them in place. Drifting back to the passenger compartment he barked, "Get tactical! Once I punch thru the hull we'll have zero time."

Drifting up to the roof he slapped a large red button and there was a dull thump, followed by a rush of air as the vacuum of space sucked the atmosphere out of the shuttle. Fox pushed off the ceiling and rolled as the artificial gravity on-board the enemy ship took over. Rolling up into a crouch he snapped up his LAB and looked around. As his teamates landed next to him he motioned towards blast door at the end of the hall, sealing off the rest of the ship, "John, use an overcharge to cut thru that door. We don't have much time…"

**End Chapter Thirteen**

**Now comes a new piece from me, reader's choice.**

**Here's a poll to decide where Fox and the others go next.**

**Review and leave a (1) for left, to the bridge, or (2) for right and down to engeneering.**

**In the event of a draw I will select one of the choices at random.**


	15. The Control Room

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Fourteen: The Control Center**

As Fox and his team breached into the enemy ship, the _Great Fox II _dropped down into the atmosphere, carrying it's cargo of troops towards the control center. The ship dropped thru the clouds, finally bringing the compound into view. A view screen in the cargo bay showed the compound to each soldier present. There were destroyed vehicles all over the place, letting pillars of smoke up into the air. And running around inside the compunds shattered walls were hundreds of enemy soldiers.

Will Trident looked over the image, as did the other mercenaries who stood behind him, including Slippy. The heavily scarred mouse turned and said, "Diana, do a low sweep to drop us off just outside the northern wall. Then take a high orbit on the far side of the planet", turning around he said, "Torres! Williams! You two are in the Landmaster!"

The two mercs saluted , "Yessir!"

However as they ran for the new and improved two man tank the ship was rocked by a large energy blast, knocking everyone down. Will turned to the monitor and said, "Krystal? What's going on up there?"

The blue vixen appeared on the screen and said, "Looks like the enemy has cracked part of the base's code, because their AA batteries are firing at us. Looks like we'll have to do a shuttle instead", she looked directly at Will, "Get everyone to the shuttle now, and be ready for a hard fight."

Will nodded as the screen went black again, "Right", turning around he said, "Everyone into _Alexandra_. No. No! Torres! You and Williams are still in the tank. We'll use a tow harness to bring it with us."

The two tank operators snapped, "Yes Sergeant Trident!"

Will picked his helmet up and slid it down over his head, tapping the activation switch and watching as his HUD powered on. Then he picked up his trademark LR-7 and moved into the waiting shuttle.

Two minutes later the craft was rocketing out into the atmosphere, the Landmaster tank on a platform connected to the back of the dropship by two magnetic clamps. Will moved up to the cockpit and stood behind the pilots as they again came thru the clouds. Almost immediately they came under fire, the four massive AA guns on the ground turning up and firing at their decending forms. Will patted the pilot's shoulder and pointed at a hill, "Set us down over there Mr. Schmidt."

The black coyote at the gawked at the armored mouse before saying, "Not a chance. It will be faster and more efficient to set you all down near the breached east wall."

Will gave the coyote an annoyed look before grabbing him and pulling him from the seat. The surprised canine didn't even put up a struggle as Will shoved him out into the troop bay. The mouse turned to the co-pilot and barked, "Put us down behind that hill right now."

Marching out into the bay he saw Commander Schmidt standing there looking indignant and furious, "What the hell do you think you're doing Sergeant?"

Will growled, "Let's cut the bullshit alright. I don't give a fuck about the fact that you outrank me. We aren't navy and this isn't a navy ship. You are on loan to us, which means you are off duty. That means you can take these stars", he flicked the silver insignia on the canine's collar, "And shove them and your purple heart right up your ass. Fox gave me command so you will do as I say. You got that _Maggot_?"

The black canine across from him was livid, "Why yew little…", he started. But looking around the compartment he saw that every mercenary in there was looking at him, several dangerously. He looked back to Will and nodded, "Fine. We'll do this your way."

Will grabbed a spare HBC from a weapon's rack, "Good", he tossed the weapon to the canine, "Gear up, you're comin' with us."

Micheal moved to the weapon's locker and grabbed extra armor plates, securing them to his own BPFs. As he finished there was a soft lurch as the dropship settle down. The co-pilot came over the COM and said, "Touchdown!"

Will turned to the mercs and shouted, "Come on ladies! You wanna live forever?"

Everybody but Schmidt shouted, "**_Hoorah Sergeant!_**"

Will smiled inside his helmet and hit the release for the doors which quickly opened, letting out the soldiers who ran up the hill. Will and the two other snipers dropped as soon as they reached the peak, while the others, lead by Rick the iguana, charged down the opposite side. Rick himself hefted his HE-X rocket launcher. Placing the targeting monocle to his eye he pulled the trigger, sending the high explosive missle ripping thru the air to hit one of the AA guns, which couldn't dip low enough to fire on them on the ground.

The rocket hit the weapon's base in one of it's load bearing legs and detonated, severly weakening the weapon's stability and causing it to topple over. Rick then shifted his aim and fired the other two rockets into the wall, blowing large holes into the structure. The reptile slung the weapon and drew his secondary, a SMB-9. Throwing one arm forward he shouted, "Charge!"

And the soldiers complied, running for the damaged wall. They all slammed into the structure as blaster fire began to fly out of the holes. Rick slammed his back against the wall as a large bolt flew out and struck one of the others in the chest, knocking him down and melting his HBC-9 to his chest plate. The soldier screamed as he crawled back to the wall. He lay down at the base and tried to pull his helmet off, screaming, "I can't breath! I can't breath!"

Rick reached over and snapped the emergency release latch, causing the helmet to release. The other merc snatched it off revealing a white and black tomcat. The iguana then slapped him across the face, "Get ahold of yourself soldier!"

He shoved the helmet back into the feline's hands and shouldered his own weapon before popping up and firing off a three round burst into the now settling dust. Peeking up over the broken wall he saw dozens of enemy soldiers dressed in black armor running towards them, firing as they did. Blaster bolts peppered the wall and rubble where the Starfox mercinaries were taking cover. Rick fired off another burst at the enemy before shouting, "Gunner! Get over here!"

An armored ferret crawled over, his HBC-9 held tightly in his hands, a large case clamped to his back, "Whaddya need boss?"

The iguana flinched slightly as a powerful bolt blew a hole in his cover right by his shoulder. He turned and fired again. As he ducked back down he growled, "Unpack _the Judge_."

The ferret smiled inside his helmet and nodded, "You got it."

The rodent set his rifle aside and brought the case around in front of him. Opening it he revealed an experimental version of the new gatling gun, the Heavy Repeating Blaster Mark II. The rodent quickly assembled the weapon, attaching the cooling chambers to the stck and giving them a quick spin. Then he slid the barrel into place at the top of the weapon. Locking the barrel he grabbed the large ammo pack and fitted it into place just in front of the grip. On the front of the charge was stamped the words, _All mine enemies shall be judged_.

With the weapon assembled Gunner lay on his back and scooched up to the wall, "On your order boss."

Rick looked over his men, "Right. Gunner you'll provide suppressing fire while I take the rest of us thru the wall and into the complex. When I give you the signal move up and take the motor pool, clear out any vehicles that are left", nodding towards the hill he said, "Will, Alena, and Patricia've got your back."

The ferret nodded and primed the large weapon before giving his superior a thumbs up. Rick opened a COM and said, "On my mark move foreward. Three. Two. One. Mark!"

With that word Gunner popped up and began firing with _the Judge_, bolts leaving the weapon at a rate of three thousand rounds a minute. The high power rounds forced the enemy soldiers to duck down behind burt out vehicles and building corners and doorways. Rick shot a glance over the wall and shouted, "Move up!"

Every mercenary jumped over the rubble and scrambled for more viable cover. Rick, the tomcat from before, and one more ran up to one of the barrack huts. They brust thru the partially closed door, surprising a few soldiers who had taken cover inside. The mercenaries got their first good look at the enmy. Each soldier was fully encased in solid black BPFs. Painted onto the right shoulder and between the shoulder blades of each enemy was the red and white Umbrella symbol.

The enemy troops were cut down before they could get a shot off and the mercinaries ducked under windows, popping up to fire.

Back on the LZ Will fired again, blowing another hole into an enemy soldier's chest. He watched as the others pushed forwards, driving the enemy back into the compound. After another few minutes the front line was stopped as the enemy closed the blast doors, sealing them outside. Over the COM the mouse heard Rick say, "Will come on in."

The mouse stood up and gestured for Alena and Patricia to do the same. The three fixed their helmets in place and jogged down to the others, some of which were clearing the smaller buildings outside the main structure. Slowing to a stop next to Rick who was standing behind a downed AR-wing the mouse said, "What's the holdup Rick?"

As if on cue there was a large explosion from the direction of the doors. Turning and peeking over the rubble Rick sighed, "That is the problem."

Aside from some scorching the blast doors remained intact. Will looked back to the iguana, who had removed his helmet and was scratching at the frill on top of his head, "I think it's time to bring in the big guns", opening a COM he said, "_Alexandria_, Drop of the package."

The co-pilot responded, "Right away, clear the courtyard."

Will nodded to the small image of the pilot on his HUD before he opened a team-COM, "Clear the courtyard gentlemen! Incoming freindly armor."

Thirty seconds later the Typhoon swooped low, slowing down to drop it's Landmaster cargo. The tank hit the ground with a puff of dirt and the top hatch opened, letting Torres stick his feathered head out, "I hear you gotta door that needs openin'."

Will rolled his eyes at the crow and said, "Just blast the damn thing will ya!"

The crow smiled and gave a mock salute, "Yes sir", ducking back inside the avian turned to Williams, "Lock and load. We're bustin' down a door!"

The bull smiled and primed the main cannon, charging the large gun. The mercenaries cleared the way, running to cover behind destroyed vehicles and around the corner of the building as the tank moved into position. The main gun slowly moved into position. Inside Williams grinned and shouted, "Booyah!"

He then hit the trigger and fired. The large bolt struck the center of the door with such force it buckled the eight inch thick tritanium, and the wall cracked around the doorframe before the large hunk of metal flew inwards, bouncing down the hallway. The large chunks of debris splattered numerous enemy soldiers. As the smoke cleared the surviving enemys began to fire out the door. The smaller bolts just bounced off the tank's thick armor. Will, one of the soldiers that had taken cover around the corner, ran up to the doorway and shot a glance inside. Quickly yanking his head back he growled, "We don't have time for this", he quickly checked his map of the compound. Finding there would be sufficient space he opened a link to the tank, "Smoke 'em."

A few seconds later the tank fired again. There was an explosion inside the building, blowing out all the windows on the first level and knocking down several walls, along with killing everything inside the hallway. Before the smoke had a chance to clear Will shouted, "Move it!"

The mercs rushed inside. Twenty minutes later they had pushed the remaining soldiers back into the control center. Bodies littered the halls and rooms of the building, some starfox, most umbrella. Will looked over the locked door and sighed, "Well this sucks", taking off his helmet he scratched behind his ragged left ear and shouted, "Anybody got a Banger?"

One of the mercs unclipped the device from his belt and tossed it to his CO. The mouse snatched it out of the air, "Thanks Ramirez."

Then he turned back to the door. After replacing his helmet he gave the door a swift kick, knocking it out of it's track and swinging iwards to smash against the wall. The mouse immediately pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it inside. The flash bang went off with a blinding light and the mercs rushed inside. In less than thirty seconds they had control of the fire control center.

Will turned to Rick and said, "Take two men and clear the upper floors. Alena! Patricia", turning to the two snipers, "Head outside and wait for Slippy", then he opened a COM to the shuttle, "Bring in the brain."

Two minutes later the tigress and rabbit came back inside, Slippy right behind them.

The frog slowed to a stop and nodded at the mouse, "Hey Will. We good here?"

The mouse gestured towards a console and Slippy cllapped his gloved hands together, "Right, straight to business."

The frog walked over to the station and typed a command, "Okay. Give me a minute and I'll have command of the gun", gesturing to another console he said, "We've got COM system's up, give Fox the signal…"

Slippy was interrupted by Rick coming running in and shouting, "We've got enemy dropships incoming!"


	16. Author

Authors note

Sorry I've fallen so far behind, but I've been just absolutely enraptured by a Star Trek Voyager fic called **_Just Between Us._**

It's not on , but you can find it here .ca/~#J/7.

It is an amazing story, if you like lesbian romance. and I do mean romance, not just smut.

Anyway I'm back now so you can expect a new chapter soon.

Sincerely,

Undead Fox


	17. Shock and Awe

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Fifteen: Shock and Awe**

Fox sighed. This breach wasn't going according to plan. He shot a quick look down the hall at the mass of guards firing at him and his squad. As blaster bolts peppered the wall near his head he pulled back into the small nich he was using for cover. John's massive bulk was pressed into the wall behind him, rifle sighted down the corridor behind them. Across the hall in a small storage room Alice and Leon cringed back from the door.

Growling Fox turned back to the door he and John were trapped against. For the twentieth time the control panel buzzed in denial as Fox tried to over-ride the lockout. As the enemy's bolts took on a sudden surge John was forced to cringe back against the wall. The equine turned to Fox and said, "Any luck with the door?"

Fox growled and slammed his hand against the burnished metal surface, "God dammit no! I can't crack the lockout. Why the fuck didn't I bring Diana?"

Finally after frustration set in Fox pulled his right fist back and drove it into the control panel, which flashed and exploded with a shower of sparks. Shortly after that the door parted and the two soldiers dove inside. Pulling his carbine from his chest Fox stuck the weapon out the door and fired blindly at the soldiers down the hall. As they ducked into the limited cover Fox shouted, "Alice, Leon! Get over here!"

The two humans nodded, their faces concealed inside their helmets, and after a moment they lunged across the hall, dodging the enemy's return fire before throwing themselves into the room.

As the two humans dove past him Fox keyed into the interior console and shut the doors, reactivating the magnetic locks. Looking around he saw they were in a mess hall of some sort, long tables and benches filled the room with what looked like a galley. Across the room Fox saw another door, "Thru there!"

The screens showed the small group of intruders, and the man watching them narrowed his eyes, his hackles rising as he watched them cut down a contingent of guards, "God Dammit!"

Slapping his hand down on the inter-COM he snapped, "This is Chief Rutger. To anyone who brings me the heads of our intruders, I will triple your wages."

A moment later a hand rested gently on his shoulder.

"That won't be necessary Chief. Their job is not to kill them. That honour is mine and mine alone. Your soldiers' job is to bring them to me."

The man nodded, "Yes Lord Wesker."

The other man smiled and looked at the screen, which now displayed Fox and the others outside a door marked ENGENEERING, "Yes, just bring them to me."

Fox worked the door open and rolled inside, bringing up his weapon and aiming it at a group of startled engeneers, "Don't move!"

The four scientists readily complied as the other three Starfox members walked in, rifles at the ready. As doors across the large room opened John and Leon didn't hesitate, they shifted their aim and fired. Three security guards dropped like rocks as Alice and Fox tied up the scientists, and the others moved the bodies clear of the door before jamming the locks. John trotted back over to Fox as the vulpine stuffed the last scientist into a storage room and said, "We don't have much time."

Fox pulled his pack off and reached inside, pulling out a device roughly the size of a football, his nova bomb. He stood back up, moving towards the power core. He gave it a quick once over before saying, "I'm gonna hafta get under it."

Fox detached a multitool from his belt and held it in his teeth as he pulled his BPF jacket, helmet, and combat harness off, exposing his grey undershirt. He lay them down before slipping his legs into a small space between the deck and the shielded wall of the core. He shimmied further down till his boots touched the deck of an access corridor that ran beneath the main deck. Plucking the bomb from his hip he spat out the tool and began trying to fasten the device to the underside of the core. As he finished up there came a sudden, loud crash from above. Fox snapped his head up, almost smacking his nose on the shielding for the core. Dropping his hand down to his hip he drew his sidearm and began to shimmie back out of the hole. When he neared the opening he slowed down. Across the room were his teammates, bound and gagged against the wall, with a dozen heavily armed guards. Suddenly a pair of boots stopped right in front of the opening.

"Come out of there McCloud."

Fox growled low, he knew that voice.

"Albert Wesker."

Then Fox was hauling himself quickly out of the hole and was rushing towards his hated enemy. He stopped only when he felt the barrel of the gun in Wesker's hand press against his dark grey t-shirt. As guards ran forward and grabbed him Fox's eyes locked on Wesker's, rage boiling , barely contained as he growled out, "You're a dead man."

Wesker smirked and took a half step back, "Well that was awful short Fox. Where are your manners? No 'Hello'? No 'How's it going'?"

Fox snarled and jerked forwards, almost pulling the larger guards of their balance, "You Fucker! I'm gonna kill YOU!"

Fox was silenced though by Wesker's left fist connecting with his stomach, driving up under his ribs and forcing the breath from his lungs explosively. The vulpine's eyes bugged, and he promptly vomited onto the floor as Wesker pulled his hand back, cracking his knuckles, "That's enough of that", looking at his guards Wesker snapped, "Bind him. Take the others to interrigation", he idly reached over and grabbed Fox's headset from his belt.

As the guards finished binding the winded Fox one of htem looked to Wesker and asked, "And him?"

Wesker smirked and said, "Bring him to my lab. I'm in need of a new test subject."

Down on the surface…

"We've got enemy dropships incoming!"

Slippy looked to Will and the senior mercenary nodded, "Set up a perimiter Will. I'll work on the computer."

The toad silently turned to his work as Will nodded grimly and turned back to Rick, "Send Alena and Patricia up to the third floor I'll be up there setting up a nest for us. Once you do get to work setting up a perimiter."

The iguana nodded, muttering, "Sir", before running back out the door shouting thur his raised face plate, "Alright boys and girls! Bunker down, We're in for a fight!"

Will didn't hear this though, he was already running up the nearby stairs, up to the third floor. As he cleared the stairwell he un-slung his rifle and moved to the east side of the building. As he entered a large room, what looked like a conference room he moved to the largest window and grabbed a chair. Spinning it around he straddled the seat and rested the bottom of his rifle on top of the back. Looking down the sights he saw in the distance almost two dozen dropships, each with the umbrella symbol painted on hastily on their hulls in various places.

Narrowing his eyes, Will focused on the sloped glass. Instead of seeing an enemy soldier, all dressed in black, he saw a white wolf dressed in an orange jumpsuit, an eight digit serial number stenciled on his left breast. The mouse snorted, "Of course Wesker'd be after the cons."

From behind him he heard, "Where do you need us?"

Without lookingWill gestured towards the conference table, "Push that against the wall over there and use it as a brace for sustained fire."

As the two female mercs moved to the table however, one of the approaching dropships fired it's wingtip ball cannons, a single shot each. One of them screamed into the broken wall, blowing a crater in it's outer surface. The second round slammed into the fourth floor of the main building, which caused it to explode out and collapse onto the floor beneath it, showering the three mercs in dust and rubble.

In the courtyard…

Mercenaries scrambled to get into defensable positions. The landmaster rotated it's turret and fired on the approaching dropships. It's barrel glowed briefly before spitting out a brightly glowing and rapidly pulsing green blob of plasma, which screamed thru the air and smashed into the windshield of the dropship that had just fired on the complex. The transparasteel boiled and blistered before exploding inward, killing the pilot instantly and turning the inside of the ship into an inferno.

Inside the Landmaster Torres and Williams exchanged a high five as the crow yelled, "YEEHAAWW!"

The dropship careened to port and smashed into another, sending both plummeting to the surface. But there was too many, and even as Torres turned the turret from inside the tank to take another shot, it's armor began to take hits. Torres kicked the engine into gear and rolled the tank across the courtyard as shots from the older Typhoon ships slammed into it's hull. the lanmaster fired again, the round grazing a ship and causing it to drop rapidly as it's engines failed. Then the tank was behind the wall. Williams wordlessly reconfigured the firing system for deep penetration and fired.

The ball of plasma blew a hole in the wall without disrupting it's integrity. Torres rolled the armor up against the wall and the barrel stuck out thru the hole. Then they resumed firing. They missed with their first shot and hit with their second. however they hadn't reset the rounds to the default High Explosive Incendiary setting. The deep penetration round ripped thru the dropship, causing heavy damage, but not killing the pilot or disabling the engines. It simply blew out the windshield, punched into the passenger compartment, and blew out the back end. By that time the enemy was concentrating their fire on that section of the wall. the tank got off three more rounds before a lucky shot struck the end of the barrel, fusing it shut. unfortunately this happened as the tank was charging for another shot.

William's eyes bugged as the console in front of him started flashing warning lights. Torres reached up and blew the emergency locks on the roof hatch before scrambling out. As he fell off the tank Williams tried to climb out, but as he pulled his torso out the tank's cannon overloaded and exploded. the bull was incinerated. Torres, who was only a few feet away, was thrown screaming thru the air, his uniform and feathers burning. His pain ending when he crashed headfirst into the side of one of the barracks, and he fell to the ground in a burning, lifeless heap.

The other members of starfox were forced to fall back into the command center as the ships now had nothing heavy enough to cause them problems shooting at them. And they began to bombard the building with concentrated fire.

Up on the third floor…

Will groaned and sat up, rubbing his head out of reflex, his hand meeting his helmet. Running his hands over the smooth black surface he felt a sizable dent on the back of his helmet. He pulled his helmet off and looked around. across the room was Alena, digging in a large pile of rubble. Will stood up and grunted as he felt a flash of pain up his leg. looking down he saw large dent in one of the armor plates on his thigh and sighed in relief. His leg would be bruised, but not broken.

He moved over to Alena and saw that she'd removed her helmet too. He also saw that tears were streaming down her face. He grabbed her shoulder and snapped, "Report!"

The tigress didn't stop as she said, "Patricia got buried by the fourth floor coming down. I called for help by the stairs are out, nobody can get up here."

The feline growled and hurled a large piece of debris. When she turned back she gasped.

There, sticking out of the rubble was a battered BPF right glove and sleeve. The hand and arm inside were limp. Alena knelt down and shakily took the hand. It stayed limp in her grasp. She cried then, fresh tears running thru the grime covering her cheeks as the fact her wife was dead struck her hard. She kissed the metal knuckles and moved to set the hand down.

Suddenly the fingers jerked in her grip and clenched down on her hand, making her gasp in surprise. Alena let out a releived laugh as she squeezed back, kissing the hand repeatedly. Will moved over to his helmet and put it on. He ran a quick diagnostic before opening a COM, "Patricia? Can you hear me?"

There was a cough followed by the rabbit's strained voice, "I'm here Will."

The mouse sighed, "Good. How're you holding up?"

There was a moment's pause before, "I'm having trouble breathing and the medi-systems in my armor have been activated so I've got at least one open wound", she coughed and drew a strained breath, "I think my back's broken."

Will exhaled and whispered, "Fuck."

Alena looked up at him, "What? What's wrong?"

Will tried to tell her gently, "She thinks her back's been broken."

Alena's grip on Patricia's hand tightened and her eyes widened. Patricia noticed the change and said, "You told her didn't you. Dammit Will, you know how she gets when I get hurt."

Before the mouse could even say anything Patricia was apologising, "I'm sorry Will", she drew another breath, "Does she have her helmet?"

Will shook his head, despite the fact Patricia couldn't see him, "No."

The rabbit coughed, "Can you ask her to take my glove off. Tell her I want to feel her."

Will smirked, "Sure", then he took his helmet off, "Alena. she says she want's to feel you. Maybe you should take her glove off."

Alena smiled and wiped away her tears before pulling off the rabbit's glove. She then leaned in and kissed the palm, "Don't die on me baby. I'll dig you out."

Keeping one hand in the rabbit's Alena began to scrabble away at the rubble. Will also began digging. After a few minutes they managed to clear her head and shoulders. Alena shoved Will aside so she knelt down by the helmeted head, which turned to watch as she released the latches and pulled it off. Patricia smiled up at her wife, who smiled back and whispered, "Hey."

Patricia stroked the tiger's cheek, her hand still tightly clasped by both of Alena's. Then she pulled her down to kiss her soundly. Will ignored them, ten years of being around them made it easy. He spotted a steel beam jutting from the pile and walked over to it. He looked at it for a moment before giving it a solid rap with the back of his hand. Hearing Patricia gasp made him look at her, to see her looking at him with a bizarre expression on her face.

"Did you feel that", he asked. Patricia nodded and the mouse scratched his chin, "I think this is pressing down on your torso. This is what is making your breathing difficu…"

He was thrown from his feet by an explosion. Scrambling back to his feet he was almost knocked down again as another blast shook the building. Foregoeing his helmet Will grabbed his backup headset off his belt and shouted, "Report!"

Slippy's voice came back, "They took out the Landmaster. They're trying to bring the building down around us", there was a pause then Slippy laughed, "Haha! I've just unlocked the anti-air towers. Let's see how they like the taste of homing plasma bombs!"

Outside the Ships were finding they didn't like it at all, as the powerfull spheres of energy tracked them and exploded on contact. It was at this point the enemy broke ranks and fled, eight ships surviving and fleeing up towards space.

Rick, who was in the command room with Slippy, laughed and slapped the frog on the back, "Nice one Slip! You've run them off", then he leaned closer, "Now how about that gun?"

Slippy typed furiously, "I'm almost there."

Just then the console showing the defence towers started beeping. Both Slippy and Rick turned to look.

"Uh-Oh", they said in tandem.

Just then the console behind them beeped as well. Slippy smiled, "Yes! We've got access to the gun!"

Rick ran over to his side as he shouted into his COM, "We've got enemy bombers incoming!"

Slippy slid a data drive into the console and began a download, "I'm taking the codes now. Call the Great Fox and have them make a run and I'll stream them the data from my PDA."

Rick nodded and reopened his COM, "Everybody into the command room. We're activating the emergency defence systems."

Then Slippy said, "Waitaminute! Will and the others are still upstairs!"

He and Rick ran to the destroyed stairs. The frog took one look and shook his head, "Not a chance Rick."

The iguana turned to see the frog sluffing off his long lab coat, "What are you doing?"

Slippy didn't answer him, just took a deep breath and then bolted forward. Then he leapt into the air, and did his amphibian ancestors proud. Rick's jaw was hanging wide as Slippy easily landed on the next level up, before turning and repeating the process to land on the third level. He shouted, "WILL! We've gotta go!"

Then he heard the defence guns start firing.

**End Chapter Fifteen**

**Hey readers! I know it's been a while but I hope this chapter makes up for the wait.**

**Part of the reason this has taken so long is I've got an idea for a Deadliest Warrior fic. Fictional characters only. Episode one teaser, The Arbiter vs. Darth Vader.**

**Take a minute to process that then tell me what you think.**

**Undead Fox**


	18. Family

**Hey readers. I have some bad news. my laptop has officially gone terminal. which is why I've taken so long to update this chapter, I've had to rewrite about half of it from memory on my parent's computer, and mom is very stingy with my time on it. so updates will probbly be far between for a while until I can save up enough money to buy a new laptop.**

**On the plus side I think I did really well with this chapter so read and enjoy, and If you feel like it leave a review.**

**Sincerely,**

**Undead Fox**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Family**

Fox growled as he was thrown against a wall after being led into a dimly lit room, in the opposite direction from his teammates. His hands were restrained behind his back by magnetic cuffs, which disrupted his link with his metal hand. He felt a guard press him tightly against the wall as something was clipped to his cuffs, and something else was fitted around his neck. As the guard released him Fox spun around and quickly delivered a bone cracking roundhouse kick to the guard's ribs, sending him tumbling backwards.

As the guard fell over Fox lunged at him, intending to stomp him. Instead he was jerked to a stop by what appeared to be a collar around his neck and leads that were attached to his cuffs and the collar. The guard scrambled out of the irate vulpine's range as his cohorts laughed at him. The assaulted guard yanked his helmet off, revealing himself as an iguana. The reptile stood up quickly and threw his helmet at one of the others, "Shut the fuck up!"

He glared at Fox and snapped, "You think you're tough shit huh?"

Fox snorted and spit at him. This provoked the guard to jump forwards and punch Fox in the face, snapping the vulpine's head to the side. As Fox fell to the side the guard threw his other hand in an uppercut which drove the air from Fox's lungs. The vulpine collapsed to the ground and the guard kicked him in the ribs. Fox doubled over and wheezed as the guard grabbed the front of his shirt and shouted in his face, "How about that tough guy? Still think you're tough shit?"

Fox smirked and said, "Yeah", before driving his knee up into the guard's groin. The power he'd charged into his leg caved the armored cup and crushed the guards genitals, which sounded a unanimous hiss of sympathetic pain from the other guards. The reptile's eyes bugged and he screamed as he fell over, holding his groin as blood bubbled from between his fingers.

The other guard rushed over and began to beat the living crap out of Fox. The vulpine didn't even utter one syllable as he was beaten. Then the door opened and the voice of Wesker barked out, "Knock it off! He's no good to me dead!"

The guards immediately stopped, instead moving over to their bleeding comrade, who'd passed out from pain and blood loss. They heaved him to his feet, just to jump back as a large amount of blood poured out of his wound. One of the guards shouted, "Ah Shit! His ball juice splashed on me man!"

The other guards hauled their wounded comrade out of the room, leaving Wesker and Fox behind. The vulpine looked up from his position on the floor and smirked, "Real quality guys you got workin' for ya Wesker."

The human snorted, "Be quiet."

He picked up a remote and pressed a button. Fox's leads suddenly tightened considerably, and he slid across the deck until he hit the wall with a grunt and a thud. As Fox was drawn tight to the wall Wesker walked over to him. Standing a few feet away, Wesker pressed another button on the remote. Electricity surged thru Fox's body and he howled in pain. Wesker released the button and smiled as Fox wheezed, "Good. Nice to know that still works. My last subject was quite a bit like you, very resistant."

He moved over to a table and picked up an injector gun, and slotted a needle with a yellow, viscous fluid in it, "Of course that's not really surprising."

He walked back over and stabbed the needle into Fox's neck and pulled the trigger. The vulpine gasped and convulsed, his knees giving out. His leads, however, kept him from hitting the floor. The one attached to his wrists yanked his arms up at an awkward angle, and the one around his neck drawing tight, closing off his airways. This sudden loss of air forced Fox to stand back up, just so he wouldn't strangle himself. His eyes turned blearily upon Wesker and he mumbled, "What the hell have you put in me?"

Wesker smirked, "Just a little cocktail of mine. It's a serum that contains nanites, programmed to respond to a remote control", he pulled a PDA out of his pocket, "This remote. In no time at all they'll work their way thru your system until they reach your brain, where they'll temporarily shut down your motor control center."

Wesker shoved a stool under Fox just as the weakened vulpine collapsed again. Fox's vision faded in and out as the microscopic machines sped thru his system. Wesker continued to explain as he slotted another vial into the injector gun, "Now these nanites, once they reach your brain, will shut down your telepathic center, I don't want you sending instructions to that little blue bitch you've got out there", he stuck the needle in Fox's neck and this time the vulpine barely registered the contact. About thirty seconds later, Fox felt a little part of his mind go quiet, and he knew it was done. Before he could stop it he felt a single tear of despair slide down his cheek, and he heard Wesker laugh, "My god. How many of your enemies have tried to get you to do that? And all I had to do was turn off part of your brain. Make it so your fucktoy can't talk to you and you just crack up."

Fox growled and Wesker went, "Seems like that first shot is wearing off faster than expected. Must be the hero in you", something occurred to the demented human and he let out a short barking laugh, "She must have had some hero in her too."

Fox slowly turned his head and grumbled, "What are you talking about?"

Wesker looked down at Fox, "In due time my good captain."

Just then the door chimed and Wesker shouted, "Enter!"

The doors opened and in walked a pair of black clad Umbrella soldiers. One of them saluted and said, "Lord Wesker! We found the one you wanted."

The human smiled, "Excellent. Bring him in."

The guard that hadn't spoke marched over to stand by Fox as the other turned and moved smartly back out of the room. A few moments later he returned, with a convict in tow, the orange jumpsuit standing out like a sore thumb amongst all the silver, grey, and black of the lab. Then the convict spoke.

"Pup?"

Fox, despite his grogginess and the nearly overwhelming pain he was in, lifted his head to see someone he had thought he'd never see again, mumbling, "Wolf?"

The one eyed lupine shook his head and laughed, "I'll be damned. You finally got yourself in some shit that you couldn't get yourself out of. Haha! How beautiful is that!"

Wesker stepped around the bound vulpine and said, "Hello O'Donnell. I'm Albert Wesker. Do you know Mr. McCloud here?"

Wolf snorted and crossed his arms , "We went to the academy together, and we were on opposite sides of the Great War", he sneered at Fox, "Little prick stabbed me in the back after I watched his ass all thru basic and afterwards in the academy."

Wesker looked over his shoulder at Fox and smirked, "Shocking."

Turning back to Wolf he said, "How would you like a position in my armada? I could use someone with your experience."

Wolf shook his head, "Not a chance. I gave up on that merc shit when I got thrown in the clink. I'm done."

He then turned to leave, and balked when he saw Wesker in front of him again, apparently without moving, "I'd suggest you reconsider…"

When Wolf remained silent and tried to push past him the man shoved him back out into the center of the room. Then he pulled out his PDA and hit a button. There was a hiss and a large cylinder slid up from the floor and out stepped a figure. A short figure, in a skin-tight grey suit.

With blue fur.

Fox gasped, "No. Nononono!"

Wesker turned to the figure and said, "Emily? This gentleman has just refused to serve me. Persuade him."

The girl turned, showing that on her small chest was a red, diamond shaped device with little tubes and cords feeding into her body. She looked at Wolf, and her eyes were white. She cocked her head to the side for a moment, as if confused. Wolf laughed, "A kid? You are sicking a kid on me?"

The grey lupine looked over his shoulder as he heard an astounding thing, Fox openly sobbing. Before he could turn back however his eyes bugged as the air was driven from his lungs. His head snapped around and he looked down to see Emily's arm buried up past her wrist in his stomach. And before the pain could even set in her other fist was swinging upwards unnaturally fast to strike him under the jaw, sending him flat on his back.

She jumped on top of him and was preparing to strike him again when suddenly Fox shouted, "Emily Monroe McCloud! You stop that this instant!"

The dazed Wolf looked up to see Fox straining against his restraints, a pained look on his face. Suddenly the little demon on his chest got shakily to her feet. Wolf looked at her and was surprised to see her eyes clearing as she muttered, "D-Daddy…"

Suddenly Wesker's voice cut in, "Still resisting after this long in the program? She definitely is something special."

Wolf looked over and watched the man look down to his PDA and mutter, "But I don't have time to deal with special", he typed something on the screen, "This should do it."

Emily took one step towards her father and whispered, "W-why Daddy?"

At that point the device on her chest flashed red and she screamed in pain. Fox jerked against his bonds and Wolf saw his fur stand on end as he shouted, "NO! Wesker stop this!"

The human shrugged, "She will learn to obey my commands or she will know pain."

The man moved to stand over the writhing girl and smirked down at her, "I'll turn that off when I come back…**if** these two are dead."

He then promptly turned and left the room. Emily curled up into a tighter ball, shrieking and sobbing in pain every time the light flashed from her chest. Wolf quickly scrambled away, winding up near where Fox was chained. The lupine panted heavily, still fighting to get his breath back. However something was disturbing him, other than the fact that he just got his tail handed to him by a five year old. No it was the sounds coming from directly to his left. He looked over and his eyes widened to see Fox, slowly but surely, pulling his chains out of the wall, creating a slow grinding sound with each strained step. But his surprise jumped thru the roof when there was a sudden, jarring, and incredibly loud SNAP!

Fox surged forwards, the cable dragging limp behind him. He dropped to his knees and said, "Oh God baby! Shhh it's alright, I'm here, Daddy's here."

Wolf groaned and got to his feet, "Daddy? I'm guessing you married that blue chick that was hangin' around during the Aparoid thing."

Fox growled and snapped, "Why don't you make yourself useful and get me out of these cuffs Wolf?"

The grey lupine sighed and gave a quick look around the room. There was nothing he could see to easily break the cuffs, so he took a closer look at the locks. They were digital, DNA recognition and thumb print analyzer. As soon as he knew what kind of lock it was Wolf groaned, "Great."

Fox was about to ask what the problem was when Wolf stood up abruptly and moved towards the door. The lupine looked over his shoulder and said, "Get back over to the wall."

He then keyed the door to open. There were no guards outside but there were many crewmembers, scientists, and soldiers moving throughout the hallway. Wolf waved to two passing soldiers who appeared of sufficient size, "Hey! Lord Wesker wants some help interrogating McCloud."

The two wolverines grinned to each other before moving past Wolf into the lab. The second they were past him Wolf snatched a combat knife from one of their belts and drove it up into his kidneys. That soldier was dead before he hit the deck. The second soldier spun around, attempting to draw his blaster, but was stopped as Wolf stabbed him in the throat. The lupine sighed as he watched the life fade from the wolverine's eyes.

He let go of the dagger as the body fell limp. Fox came over and Wolf pulled off one of the gloves and pressed a fingertip against the scanner. The lock opened with a loud clunk and Fox rubbed his wrists as Wolf moved the hand up to the lock around Fox's neck. As soon as the second lock was open fox scooped his daughter up and hugged her to his chest. Fox whispered, "Shhh baby I'm here."

Then his gaze was drawn to the blinking red device on her chest. He quickly grabbed it in his right hand and squeezed. The device sparked and went dead before he ripped it from her young chest. Emily gasped and her eyes shot wide, then slid slowly closed. At first fox thought to his horror that he'd just ripped off some kind of life support device. But then he heard her steady, relieved breathing. Fox looked over his shoulder at Wolf and muttered, "Thanks for feeding them that bullshit back there."

Wolf shrugged, "Yeah, like they'd ever take someone like me in the academy."

Fox snorted, "I meant the part about you watching my back."

Wolf moved over to the dead guards and began to casually strip one of them, "What are you talking about? I **was** looking out for you."

Fox would have responded but he heard Emily whimper and start to come around. He looked down at her and smiled as her eyes opened slowly, "Daddy?"

Fox smiled wider, tears shining in his natural left eye, "I'm here baby. Don't you cry now", he brushed her hair aside, "There's those pretty eyes."

Emily whimpered as she clutched to her father, "Why did you leave?"

Fox hugged her tight, "Baby. I thought you were dead."

Emily shook her head, "No! I fell asleep. My leg hurt so much but you sang me to sleep. When I woke up you were gone, but I heard digging. Then there was a bright light and that mean man was standing there. He stuck me with a dart and I fell back to sleep. When I woke up I was here", she started to cry again and whispered, "He made me do things…"

Fox felt the blood run from his face, 'Oh Lord', he thought, 'Not that. Anything but that…'

Emily sniffled, "He made me hurt people. Hurt them a lot…"

Fox couldn't help himself, he let out a relieved breath, thinking, 'Oh thank you God.'

He looked at her and said, "It's alright baby. You didn't mean it."

Just then Wolf walked back over. He was dressed in the garb of one of the soldiers, all black body armor over a dark grey bodysuit. He tapped Fox's shoulder, "Hey Pup. Maybe you should start thinking of a way outta here?"

Fox stood up, still cradling Emily to his chest, "We've gotta find my team. Then we can steal a shuttle and bail."

Wolf grabbed the helmet for his armor, which had come loose from it's clasp on the belt during his brief struggle with the guards. He settled it over his head and lifted the faceplate, "Why don't you put on this other guy's gear? It'll seem a lot less suspicious for two guards to be seen with that girl then one guard and two potential prisoners."

Fox looked distastefully at the dead body. Then he said, "Hold her."

Wolf sputtered as Fox gently passed his daughter over to him but simply glared at Fox with his one eye, while the child followed her father with her own gaze. Fox pulled his boots off and held one to the bottom of the enemy's foot. No match.

"Well at least I get to keep my boots."

Fox yanked the soldier's pants off, grateful he had worn underwear, before slipping out of his own green ones and pulling on the grey over his red boxers. He ignored the longer sleeved tunic, instead simply pulling the armor harness over his t-shirt. He pulled the dark gloves over his hands, grateful that they went back far enough to cover the metal that had been exposed on his right. He pulled on the gear belt and snapped it on. Finally he grabbed the helmet from it's clip on the belt and slid it over his head. It was a little snug bit fit fine.

Fox actually wondered how Wolf fit into his helmet, seeing as his head was significantly larger than Fox's. He stood up and flipped up the face shield before turning back and taking Emily again. He squeezed her tightly and said, "I'm gonna get you out of here."

They moved for the door as Fox stretched out as far as his mind could go, looking for his team…

* * *

Wesker moved thru the corridors of his flagship with his head held high. He had finally begun his campaign against all of Lylat, and he had his two greatest threats locked up onboard. One was being dealt with right now, and Wesker was heading to take care of the other. As he neared the door to the brig he stopped and straightened his glasses. After settling them comfortably on his nose again he stepped thru the door, nodding briefly to each guard on either side of the door. Both saluted him before moving back into a ready position, hands on their rifles, just in case.

Wesker walked pointedly to the furthest cell, passing one that held both John and Leon, the two held to the far walls by similar restraints that Wesker had placed Fox in. as he stepped in front of the final cell he smirked, "I hope the accommodations are to your liking dear sister."

He looked in to see Alice suspended in an anti-gravity field. The swirling mass of purple energy, emitted by two generators, kept her floating midway between the deck and ceiling. She was also held still by a harness that held her legs closed at the ankles and knees, while her arms were locked to her sides at the elbow and wrist. If she weren't horizontal she would be standing at rigid attention.

Alice's only movement was of her head as she angled her head up to glare thru the force field at her captor, "I'm not your sister."

Wesker entered his DNA into a scanner and the cell door opened. Wesker walked calmly up to the suspended woman and said, "Yes you are. Like it or not we are family."

Alice growled and struggled against her bindings, but all that did was cause her to rotate in the field. As she floated upright she snarled, "We are not family! I am nothing like you!"

Wesker smirked, "Oh we are more alike then you know", he reached thru the field and cupped her jaw with a surprisingly gentle hand, considering all the things he could do with it. He gave a jerk and pulled her head out of the field, which cause her short hair to fall limp. Wesker tilted his head as he said, "I've been thinking. These", he looked over at John thru the bars, "Animals. They will need some leadership after I tear apart their society. They will need a new king…"

Alice cut him off with a snort, "That'd be you right?"

Wesker responded with a slap across the face that rattled her teeth. As blood dripped from her lip he sneered, "Don't interrupt. As I was saying they will need a new king", he leaned in close and gave a cold and unfeeling smile, "And a queen."

Alice's eyes widened as the meaning of his words hit her. She blinked and said plainly, "You are seriously fucked up."

Wesker frowned and stood up, "I thought you'd say as much."

He then proceeded to punch her so hard in the face that she was knocked out the back of the anti-gravity field. As she tumbled to the floor Wesker walked around the field and picked her up, ignoring the protests from the other cell. He slammed her against the wall, smiling as he said, "I urge you to reconsider sister."

Alice responded by spitting on him, the glob of saliva landing on his glasses. Wesker glowered at her as he took his glasses off, his orange eyes narrowed to slits. He wiped the lenses on Alice's shirt before tucking them away inside his jacket. He then drove his fist up into Alice's ribs. The woman bit down on her urge to scream in pain as she felt a rib break. The same could not be said for John in the next cell. The stallion was livid as he pulled against his restraints.

"You motherfucker! Just wait 'til I get loose! Leave her alone!"

Finally Wesker seemed to notice the others , and he dropped Alice to the floor as he turned to face them. He walked up to the bars his face showing a clear confusion, "Why the hell do you care so much what happens to her? She's not even your kind."

John looked past the evil man at Alice, and at the subtle shake of her head he remained silent, simply staring death at Wesker.

The blonde man smirked, "Don't feel like talking now? That's fine, because you don't have to say a word."

He reached thru the bars and grabbed the front of John's shirt, pulling him up against the bars. The restraint around John's neck tightened and he began to gag.

"I can get anything I want from you right here", Wesker said as he grabbed John's mane and pressed his forehead against the bars. John's eyes fluttered, both from his now greatly reduced oxygen supply, and the telepathic probe Wesker had shoved into his mind. It took only a moment for Wesker to find what he wanted. And it infuriated him so much that he threw John across his cell, so hard that his neck restraint snapped, luckily before his neck did. The stallion coughed as his airways suddenly cleared. He struggled back to his feet as Wesker grasped the bars of his cell and pried them apart enough to slide thru.

Then he was gone, moving so fast John couldn't follow him with his eyes. The next thing John new Wesker's fist was buried in his stomach. Then his boot was connecting with the side of the horse's head, sending him tumbling towards the back wall. Wesker had a nearly feral snarl on his face as he glared at John. Then the human seemed to compose himself, straightening his back before wiping off his gloves and walking back into Alice's cell.

He looked at her with disgust clear on his face, "You are right, you're no sister of mine."

He then walked out of her cell, locking the door behind him. Alice glared at his back until he left. As soon as the door shut behind him she curled up in a ball and hissed in pain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw John tuck down into a tight ball and then roll forward. When he stood up his hands were now in front of him. He quickly moved over to Leon and grabbed his chain and gave a yank, snapping it off from the wall. Leon performed the same maneuver John had as the Stallion came over and pried the bars further apart by placing one boot on one side and grasping the other side in his still bound hands and pushing with his leg. Once the gap was sufficient he slipped thru and moved to Alice's side, helping her to a sitting position and draping his arms around her neck.

"I'm glad you're alright", he whispered to her.

Even though she could barely move, Alice smiled, "Right back at you big guy."

They heard the hiss of the door opening again and they heard a new voice saying, "Lord Wesker wants us to take these three to be executed…"

**End Chapter Sixteen**


	19. Not Enough

**Starfox Evil**

**Chapter Seventeen: Not Enough**

John struggled to his feet as Leon slipped thru the bars of the cell and moved to the front. From down the row they could hear the guard talking, "Lord Wesker didn't say anything about them getting executed."

The new voice said in a condescending tone, "Well we just got the orders as he passed us in the hall. He probably hasn't officially sent it yet."

They heard the guard snort, "I'll have to verify it then", they heard the sound of boots walking across the deck, then the chirp of an inter COM being activated, "Chief Rutgers come in. Come in…"

The three prisoners heard a muffled shout followed by a wet splat, then a heavy thud. Then there was a whispered conversation as a door opened while boots came quickly running down the corridor towards them followed by a lighter set of steps. Just then a guard slid to a stop in front of their cell and promptly yanked off his helmet.

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief as Fox's face was revealed. The vulpine smiled and said, "D'ja miss me?"

Alice snorted from her position behind John on the ground, "Yeah a whole bunch. Now get us out of here!"

Fox chuckled as he drew his right fist back and punched the keypad. As it sparked and died, from beside him everyone heard, "Hi Auntie Alice!"

And while the door slid open three sets of eyes grew wide with shock as Emily waved at the human woman on the other side of the bars. Fox moved inside and quickly snapped the restraints on John and Leon's wrists and set to work on Alice's. Once she was free the woman scooped Emily up and said, "It's good to see you kiddo!"

Just then Wolf stuck his head in the cell, "Listen, we can all get reacquainted later. But now I suggest we get out of here."

They ran back to the guard station and the three former prisoners saw blood sprayed all over the wall above the console, and a large smear leading over to a door. Fox pointed at the door, "Your gear is in there. I guess they were studying it, trying to crack all of Slippy's mods or something."

As the three moved quickly into the lab Fox and Wolf noticed that the COM had been crackling this whole time, with somebody talking on it, or rather shouting actually.

"This is Chief Rutgers! Is somebody actually paging me or not?"

Fox hit the button and said, "Yessir I was trying to contact you."

"Well what do you want?"

Fox looked at Wolf who shrugged and shook his head, as if to say, What are you looking at me for?

Fox closed his eyes and said "Umm we just had a slight weapons malfunction is all."

The voice on the other end took on an angry tone, "Weapon's malfunction! For Christ's sake you better not have shot anybody you idiot."

Fox stammered out, as if nervous, "Nono, we're all fine here, Uh how're you?"

"I'm sending a detachment down to…"

Now Fox really did stammer in panic, "Uhh negative! Negative! We have a reactor leak here uhh…largely very dangerous."

The voice was quiet for a moment before saying, "Who is this? What's your security number?"

Before Fox could say more the console exploded in a shower of sparks. Fox turned around to see wolf lowering his blaster. The grey lupine shrugged, "It was a boring conversation anyway."

Fox rolled his eyes and moved to the lab door, "We're gonna have company!"

The others moved back out into the main room, their gear and weapons recovered and just stepped up to the door as it opened to reveal a trio of umbrella guards, who stood there in shocked silence.

One of them said, "Uhhh…"

That was the catalyst which caused Fox to dash forwards and grab him by the neck, literally hurling him over his shoulder into the cell block, while at the same time throwing his left foot out in a back kick that caved in the second guard's chest plate and sent him tumbling backwards out into the hallway, where there was a shout. By now the third guard was going for his sidearm, but never managed to draw it as Wolf pulled him into a headlock and stabbed him in the back repeatedly. He dropped the body and said, "Let's get out of here!"

The six of them rushed out and down the corridor in the opposite direction from all the shouts they were hearing. They took cover in a lab as blaster bolts peppered the walls, floor, and ceiling around them. Fox ran over to a nearby console and began typing furiously as John and Alice fired down the corridor. Finally on the screen above the pad a blueprint of the ship appeared, and a small section began blinking.

Wolf leaned over Fox's shoulder, "Alright, there we are… now where's the hangar?"

Fox scanned the design, "There are actually four bays", he began typing again, "The closest one is three decks down, and two sections aft."

Leon moved over to the console and said, "Hey! There's a maintenance hatch over there we could use."

Fox nodded, "Get to work on it", he looked at the door and at Alice and John holding back from the edge, avoiding the firestorm of bolts peppering their meager cover.

He felt a small hand slip into his own and looked down at Emily who smiled up at him, "You'll get us out of here Daddy, you always save the day!"

Fox smirked and tousled her hair, "Yeah", then an idea struck him as his eyes settled on Alice. He walked over and stood next to the woman, crossing his arms and saying, "Alice?"

The woman didn't acknowledge him other than a grunt as she fired around the corner, where there was a cry of pain as she struck her target. That was answered by a large volley of return fire, forcing her to suck back inside and cover her head. Fox leaned against the wall and said, "D'you remember that thing you can do that Krystal said you shouldn't because it puts too much strain on your brain?"

Alice responded by growling out, "Yeah", and firing blindly around the door, emptying her charge.

Fox sighed, "I want you to do it."

Those words stopped Alice cold, her head slowly turning to look at Fox as John said, "What are you talking about?"

Alice ignored him and said, "I can't Fox. Even if I wanted to I'd need a direct line of sight with them. The last time I did that to someone I couldn't see I almost died."

Fox rubbed his chin, "Alright", he abruptly moved towards the door, "Then I'll just have to give them something else to shoot at."

Before anybody could say anything he swung his leg out behind him and dashed out into the hallway, rebounding off the far wall and dodging bolts as he sprinted towards the cluster of a dozen enemies. He threw himself into a roll, coming up right in front of one of the black clad guards. His metal hand flew straight up and buried itself inside the guard's helmet, crushing his jaw and muzzle to a red pulp. Fox flinched as a blaster bolt struck him in the shoulder, causing him to tumble. In pain Fox shouted, "Alice! NOW", as he rolled backwards into a crouch and threw himself at the enemy that shot him. The surprised iguana gaped as suddenly there appeared to be not one, but three Foxes, all of them a bright blue and each coming towards him, an enraged snarl engraved on their faces.

He drew a breath to scream and started to squeeze the trigger on his blaster rifle, but that breath left his lungs in a hurry as Fox's shoulder connected with his stomach in a tackle that would've made a pro linebacker proud. The two crashed into the wall and Fox used his limp form as a shield as the other guards fired at him. Bolts burned into armor plates and thru the flesh of the reptile as Fox cringed, making himself as small as possible as the umbrella armor grew hot on his shield and began to melt. Just when Fox thought that Alice would leave him there to die, there was a group scream from the other side of the body , followed by several loud, clanging thumps.

Fox looked up the hall towards the room the others had taken cover in and saw Alice standing outside the room, right hand on her temple and other outstretched and clenched in a fist as blood ran from her nose. Her pupils had completely dilated and her breathing had deepened. Behind her John was standing, his hands on her shoulders. Alice swayed on her feet and Fox stood up, the half melted remains slipping from his shoulders. He looked over at the cluster of bodies and shuddered at what he saw.

Each one of their heads had exploded, brains and bits of bone dripping from the ceiling or running from under their helmets. Fox turned back as he heard John say, "Alice? Alice look at me!"

Fox ran up as Alice collapsed into John's arms. The equine soldier looked at Fox, near panic and asked, "What's happening to her?"

Fox held one of Alice's eyes open and read her mind, "She's going into shock", he hefted Alice up into a seated position and pressed two fingers of his left hand against the center of her forehead. He swept her mind more intently and found what he was looking for. He send her brain a signal and tricked it into sending adrenaline pumping thru her system. The woman's eyes snapped open and she drew a deep breath, before clutching her temples and cringing in pain.

Fox hissed and touched her forehead again, "Sorry about that. But it was the only way to keep you out of shock", Fox snapped his head back down the hallway. Even though it was empty he still narrowed his eyes and said, "Get her back in that room", Fox stuck his head inside and said, "Get that grate open now!"

As he said that Leon gave a final yank and the covering came off with the shriek of stressed metal. As John basically carried Alice inside Wolf stuck his sidearm inside the passage and scanned both ways, before saying, "Clear!"

Fox looked back down the hallway and saw a certain dark coat coming towards them. He ducked back inside and shut the door, locking it and then shooting the controls, thereby sealing it. He and Leon were the last two, John and Alice having followed Wolf down to the next level. Leon noticed that Fox had an odd look on his face and asked, "What happened?"

Fox looked at the man and said, "Wesker's coming."

That got the human moving, as he turned and pulled the grate closed just as a loud thud rang out, along with a large dent appearing in the sealed door. There continued to be loud bangs as the small group scrambled down a ladder until they hit bottom. As Leon and Wolf struggled with the new grating there was the sound of tearing metal above them and Fox shouted, "Move!"

He shoved Leon and Wolf out of the way and drew his left knee to his chest and kicked out, his leg flashing into the grate. There was the sound of rending metal as the grate swung wildly away and crashed into the wall. They all scrambled out, drawing weapons as a few nearby soldiers took notice of them and began firing. Unfortunately Alice was still out of it, unable to stand on her own. And since John was supporting her he was also useless in a firefight.

They all moved to cover behind some supply crates and tried to return fire. As he popped up to fire Fox spotted something sitting across the bay and laughed, "Ha! I should have known!"

It was their own shuttle, apparently cut from the hull and towed inside. She was sitting there, as if waiting for them. Fox pointed it out to his teammates and they all got the picture and got ready to run. John scooped Alice up in his arms again as Leon and Wolf dropped some suppressing fire on the guards across the hanger. Fox then leapt up and fired as he charged up his legs again. Once he was ready he jumped over the crate he'd used as cover and hauled tail to the shuttle, leaping in thru the open rear hatch and dove into the cockpit as blaster bolts finally caught up with him. Scrambling into the pilot's seat Fox keyed into the system and lifted the ship from the decking, activating the shields. He swung the small ship over the enemy troops and grinned as he disengaged the magnetic boarding locks, which still held a large chunk of the hull.

Said piece of hull crashed to the deck with a tremendous thud, crushing several guards and sending others scattering. As they tried to regroup Fox settled down in front of his teammates and they all piled on. As soon as they were all on Fox closed the rear doors and pushed the throttle to the max, sending them shooting out into space, where the ship's point defense cannons began to chip away at their shields.

That was when Wolf spoke up, "Hey not to be a downer, but how the hell are we gonna get outside the shield?"

Fox closed his eyes and smacked his head against the back of his seat, muttering, "Fuck."

That was when the shield in front of them was hit by a massive blast, and the all saw the _Great Fox II_ swinging by over head, numerous scorches and burns on her hull. The enemy's shield peeled back at the point of impact and Fox heard over the COM, "Oh thank God! We thought you guys were goners!"

Fox smiled, "Slippy!"

Forty-five minutes ago, on the surface…

Will and Alena had just freed Patricia from the rubble and they were carrying her towards the stairs when they ran into Slippy. The frog waved them towards the stairs, shouting, "Hurry! We've gotta lock the building down!"

As they made it to the crumbling stairwell the incoming bombers managed to score another direct hit on the command building. The explosion knocked down the stairs leading to the second floor, and caused a large chunk of the third floor to collapse on itself. Slippy dropped down to the ground floor and said, "Alright. Pass me Patty!"

Alena gawked, "How?"

Slippy rolled his eyes and said, "I'll catch her!"

Patricia looked at her wife and nodded, "Do it, I trust him."

Alena gulped , then gave a shaky nod, "Al-Alright,"

She and Will shifted their grips to Patricia's wrists and lowered her down as far as they could before letting go. The rabbit felt a sudden vertigo as she fell, before she was landing on top of Slippy, the frog misjudging the distance and winding up underneath her.

Slippy groaned and squirmed under her as she managed to drag herself off of him, laughing the whole way, "Thanks for the soft landing Slippy! Hahahaha!"

Alena and Will dropped down next, right as another pair of bombs hit. These dumped whatever was left of the third and fourth levels into the second, causing it to give and collapse into most of the first. Will and Alena again picked up Patricia as Slippy hobbled into the control center, "We're here!"

Just as the others managed to get inside Slippy hit the console and the emergency force field popped up around the room, just as the bombers gave one final flurry, dropping everything they had onto the surface and erasing the complex from the map. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief, they where safe. That was until the second wave of bombers showed up. The emergency shield crackled under a sudden assault , and they watched in horror as it flexed. The fire outside straining to get inside and burn them to cinders. The remaining computer systems said, "Warning! Emergency bunker shield at sixty percent."

The wave came back and dropped another salvo.

"Warning! Shield failure imminent!"

Alena knelt next to her crippled wife and held her tightly. Will pulled a picture of his sister out of his pocket and ran his thumb over it. They were all bracing for the end as the bombers came back for a final run, when suddenly…

There was a massive series of explosions, they all looked up to see the _Great Fox II_ flying right thru the enemy formations.. The bombers and their payloads exploding against her shields, which collapsed after the first few fighters, the remaining bombers impacting directly with her hull, burning and boiling away armor with their dieing blasts. As the last bomber peeled off and bugged out, soaring out of the atmosphere in a hurry, the _Great Fox II_ launched a single shuttle, which settled down a few yards away from the survivors. It was then that everybody looked around and realized that there were only twelve of them. Slippy sighed and released the shield.

The group double timed it to the shuttle, in order to avoid most of the radiation damage from all the novas that had been detonated. As they settled into the troop compartment Slippy moved u to the cockpit and said to the pilot, "Hey Sam. Did you guys get the transmission I sent you?"

The black and grey mottled feline nodded as the Typhoon shuttle lifted off and headed for the _Great Fox II_. As soon as they docked Slippy ran for the bridge. The second he burst off the lift he shouted, "Krystal! I've got the codes!"

The blue vixen turned from her seat at the helm console and said, "Good. Upload them and move the gun to bear", she typed a command and the_ Great Fox II_ began to leave the atmosphere. As the blackness of space filled the massive windows Commander Schmidt came running in. He vaulted the railing and ran up to the helm, which Krystal surrendered to him quickly. The scarred coyote directed the _Great Fox II _back into the debris field of destroyed ships as Krystal sent a COM to Fox, but got no response.

The vixen was about to try a telepathic one when suddenly ROB said, "Launch detected!"

The view screen zoomed in to show Fox's shuttle zipping along the outer hull of the enemy ship. They were taking fire from cannons dotting the enemy's hull. Krystal growled, "Commander! Take us within firing range", she slapped the inter-COM, "All hands abandon ship", she turned to Slippy, "I can't let you stay."

The frog crossed his arms, "Then it's a good thing I'm not asking."

After a few moments they saw the Typhoon take off, settling down against a large piece of drifting debris. Then the _Great Fox II's_ afterburners kicked on, and they rocketed towards the enemy ship. Within seconds a green crosshair appeared on the view screen. When it turned red Krystal said, "Fire."

The _Great Fox II's_ twin Maxim III cannons fired, their green, bus sized plasma bolts ripping thru space and slamming into the enemy shields, right above the fleeing shuttle. The shields buckled and failed for the briefest moment, allowing the shuttle to slip thru as Slippy said, "Oh thank God! We thought you guys were goners!"

And Krystal sighed with relief at the voice that came back, "Slippy!"

The shuttle made an emergency landing in the docking bay as Krystal left the bridge…

Fox flew towards the _Great Fox II_, pushing his afterburners to the max to catch up. He managed to get just in front of his ship's docking bay and shouted, "Everybody hang on to something!"

He cut the forward engines and activated the counter thrusters, which immediately caused the shuttle to loose speed. They crashed to the deck and bounced off the back wall before coming to a stop, jammed against the wall. The shuttle would never fly again, but nobody cared. Everybody scrambled quickly off the shuttle as Fox entered the troop bay. From outside he heard the bay doors open, followed by his daughter shouting, "Mommy!"

There was a moment where nobody spoke, then he heard Krystal crying. Stepping off the shuttle Fox smiled as he saw his wife kneeling on the floor, holding their daughter tightly. Fox opened a COM to the bridge and said, "Slippy, do you have those codes uploaded?"

The frog answered quickly, "Ready and charged Fox."

The vulpine nodded and brought out his PDA. He typed in a command and stopped when it said…

**EXECUTE?**

**Y/N**

Fox pressed Y. From out the open docking bay doors, where the enemy ship had just drifted into view, there was a massive flash as the bomb Fox had left behind detonated inside the enemy ship, reacting with the power core and nearly tearing the ship in half as it's primary power core exploded. Fox reopened the COM to Slippy and said, "Fire."

As the ship's shields failed to contain the reactor's explosion, the orbital gun's battleship sized bolt hit it square on the nose, burned completely thru the remains of the ship, and caused it to rip itself apart. The vessel flying to pieces before the eyes of Fox and his team. As they all left the docking bay the enemy vessel gave a final shudder before exploding, debris scattering into space. While Fox, Krystal, Emily, and Wolf headed for the bridge, everybody else moved to the barracks, except John and Alice, who went to sickbay. Fox sighed as he held both Krystal and Emily, while Wolf simply stood off on the other side of the lift, rubbing his temple. As they neared the bridge they felt the ship shudder under impact. This caused all occupants to give each other startled looks. As soon as the doors opened Fox shouted, "Report!"

Slippy answered from his station, "Debris from the Umbrella vessel is coming this way."

Fox settled into his seat and said, "Shields?"

Slippy shook his head, "No chance, they were burned out when Krystal saved us from the surface."

Fox turned to Micheal, "Commander! Get us out of here!"

The coyote typed at his console and shook his head, "The engines aren't responding."

Slippy growled and moved towards the lift, "Probably burned out that damn inductor again", as he stormed into the lift he muttered, "I told them they needed a stronger unit…!"

Fox turned to ROB and shouted, "ROB! Arm the cannons and blast that debris!"

ROB began typing and he said, "Primary cannons online."

Suddenly there was the sight of an AR-wing jetting out into space. Fox whirled on ROB and shouted, "Who's flying that bird?"

Then Wolf's head popped up on the holo-grid, "I'm just buying you time Pup. And next time make sure you turn off your inter-COM when you're done."

The lupine's head disappeared and Fox slumped in his seat, until the panel behind ROB blew out. The robot shouted a warning, "Danger! Primary cannons have suffered severe micro meteor damage. Their integrity has failed. I am unable to provide support to Mr. O'Donnel."

Fox snarled, "If it's not one thing it's another! I'm heading to the hanger."

The doors shut before anybody could complain. As Fox headed for the hangar his COM chirped, "Fox pick up."

The vulpine opened the link and said, "I'm on my way out Wolf."

The lupine shook his head in the small box in Fox's monocle, "Don't bother. We need to get those engines online again. Go help…uh?"

Fox's voice deadpanned, "Slippy."

"Slippy! Right go help Slippy with the engines. I've got this covered out here."

Fox sighed and redirected the lift, "Fine."

He killed the link before more could be said. As the lift stopped the ship rocked with an impact and ROB's voice came over the inter-COM, "Large impact on deck ten, Engineering. Hull breach detected."

Fox hurried down the corridor, but skidded to a halt when the doors suddenly opened and the atmosphere went rushing thru them. Moving to a locker Fox grabbed an oxygen mask and pulled it on before moving back towards the door. Suddenly the atmosphere stopped rushing, meaning either the emergency shields had closed the gap, or there wasn't any more air left in the deck. Fox was just about to step up to the door when suddenly Slippy came flying out, screaming thru the air before he smacked into the opposite wall. Then none other than Albert Wesker stepped out, wearing an oxygen mask of his own. The human's coat was gone, and his shirt was torn. He also had an extremely crazed look on his face.

"Fox McCloud. You son of a bitch, you destroyed my ship!"

Fox snarled, "Well apparently that wasn't enough to kill you."

Wesker growled and threw himself at Fox, who responded by attacking as well. Wesker wound up dodging Fox's attack and grabbing his wrist, spinning the vulpine thru the air and sending him careening into the damaged Engineering. Fox crashed into a console and grunted in pain as Wesker came stalking in. suddenly the human's mask started beeping and a small light flashed red. The human pulled the mask off and grimaced at the sudden change from straight oxygen to the filtered air in the room. He threw the empty mask away and snatched at his Colt.

As Fox yanked off his own mask he also reached for a weapon, a pipe wrench that happened to be sitting nearby. As Wesker grabbed his firearm Fox threw the wrench and it hit the man square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Then he dashed forwards and punched Wesker in the jaw while also grabbing for the gun. His fingers closed around the grip as Wesker's closed around his wrist. The human jerked and the gun went flying, but Fox's metal fist connected squarely with his jaw, stunning him, giving Fox the chance to kick him away and pick up the wrench again, holding it in his left hand. Wesker threw another punch, zipping past Fox's arms to connect with his cheek, however Fox swung the wrench and there was a sickening snap as the tool connected with Wesker's forearm.

The human roared in pain and kicked Fox in the chest, sending him reeling backwards and almost colliding with the emergency field. He was luckily stopped by the main console which lined the broken wall. He glanced at the rippling purple field and gulped, it was very weak. If he'd hit it he probably would have collapsed it and sailed right out into space. As he turned back to Wesker the human smiled, "I road that piece of hull all the way over here to see you die, and now I know how I'm going to do it!"

He tackled Fox against the console and grasped the front of his armor harness, trying to push him over the edge. But Fox slipped his right hand between Wesker's arms and twisted, forcing them apart to grab the human's shirt. The two began to struggle, trying to force the other off and gain the advantage. Fox grunted as he pushed against Wesker, "You know the interesting thing about those shields? They are strongest right when they form."

Wesker growled, "And I'm going to throw you thru them."

Fox suddenly grinned, "I don't think so."

He swung the wrench up high, as if to bring it down on Wesker's head. Instead he threw it over his shoulder at the field, and Wesker's eyes followed it for the briefest of moments.

That was all Fox needed. As soon as Wesker looked away he drove his knee up into the man's groin while also grabbing his throat with his metal hand. As the wrench broke the field and the atmosphere vented again Fox said, "Get off my ship", and hurled Wesker over his shoulder. Fox held his breath until the field re-stabilized then let it out slow as the man drifted quickly away, squirming for a moment before falling still.

Fox sighed and slumped to the floor, sitting against the broken console with his eyes closed. When he heard movement he opened his eyes to see Slippy coming back in, rubbing his cheek where it was already bruising. The frog walked up to the purple field and said, "Spaced him?"

Fox nodded, "Yup", he finally looked around at the engine room, "Are we dead in the water Slip? Or can you fix this?"

Slippy scoffed, "I ain't gonna lie Fox, it's pretty bad. I'll get to work but we're gonna be stuck here for a while", the frog chuckled, "Y'never know, maybe David'll pay for repairs?"

Fox chuckled too, "I wouldn't count on it. Would you like a hand?"

The frog shook his head, "Nah. I work best on my own. Besides. I noticed you just got your daughter back."

Fox smiled, "Yeah. I got lucky", he moved to the door, "Keep me informed…"

Wesker drifted in the dark, his anger boiling and writhing with his pain. His virus would keep him alive for a few more hours, but it would be an excruciating few hours. Suddenly he hit something. Gripping the object he rotated to see it was a shuttle, with his symbol painted on the nose. At first he thought it had simply survived the blast, until a light clicked on inside the cockpit, revealing Chief Rutgers. The human picked up a n oxygen mask and pulled it on, before pointing at the rear of the shuttle. Wesker nodded and began pulling himself along the small vessel…

**End Chapter Seventeen**

**Hey folks! Almost there with Book II! not sure if I'm going to write a third, but who knows. Let me know if you even think I should. Also I've got a new Redwall fic up called Redclaw, you guys should totally go check it out. Anyway it's almost over. I hope I've entertained you over the past months and hope to do so again for a long time.**

**Sincerely,**

**Undead Fox**


	20. Finality

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Eighteen: Finality**

_Personal Log Captain Fox McCloud,_

_Date: March 21st__, 2229_

"_I can't believe it's finally over. Wesker's dead, Emily's back, and we can go home. Slippy managed to restore secondary power and I had ROB activate the distress beacon. We haven't received a response yet, but I'm not worried. Even with the primary core offline we've still got life support, though the artificial gravity started malfunctioning an hour ago. We've also got enough food to last us months. And even then, if we have to we can use the docking thrusters to set us down on the planet below…"_

Fox looked up from the camera as he heard his daughter's squealing laughter.

"Daaadyyyy!"

Fox carefully turned to watch as Emily floated past, her arms flailing. Young Falco was right behind her, saying, "Don't worry Dad. I've got her."

Fox smirked and turned back to the camera

"…_It's finally over, and I am infinitely grateful for that. End log."_

Fox turned around and smiled when he saw that Falco had missed his sister completely, instead sailing directly into one of the large windows lining the outer wall of their quarters, "What are you doing Missie", he asked as he expertly drifted over and snatched his daughter out of the air. Emily laughed loudly as he tickled her. Then she held on tightly as her father said, "Let's go see how things are on the bridge with Mom."

Falco drifted behind his father and sister as Fox activated the door and floated out into the corridor and towards the bridge.

_Personal Log Captain Fox McCloud Supplemental,_

_Date: March 21__st__, 2229_

"_I don't know why, but I keep hearing what sounds like Wesker screaming in my head. I mean the guy has to be dead, I launched him out into space without a mask or EVA suit…"_

Fox looked away for a second before continuing,

"…_I don't know. Just thought I'd make a note of it."_

_Official Log Captain Fox McCloud,_

_Date: March 29__th__, 2229_

"_They've come for us! I know I probably shouldn't sound as excited as I do but to hell with it. Sitting directly to our port side is the RLA Super Carrier, __The TITAN__. And boy is she a sight for sore eyes. Apparently the damage sustained by that debris had been more extensive than I'd thought, because we've been leaking drive plasma for the last week. I doubt we'd have had the power to move at all without losing life support. But it doesn't matter now, because we've been rescued…"_

Fox paused and smiled,

"… _Captain Price tells me that the Emperor himself has tagged along. I guess he wanted to see the damage for himself. I can hear the tugs docking to what's left of our hull right now. In a few minutes we'll be able to get off this boat and go home. End Log."_

Fox looked up from his console as the doors to his office opened and in floated Krystal.

"The kids are both strapped down, along with everyone else."

Fox nodded and said, "Good", he began to drift away from the chair he was occupying, "We'd better get back to the bridge and buckle up ourselves. You know how rough these gravity transitions can be."

However as she drew even with him Krystal pushed him back down. As she gently rebounded off the ceiling she said, "You have been so busy helping to keep us alive. Now that we're safe I think you need to just relax", when Fox started to complain she leaned in and kissed him gently. Once his momentary complaint had died she said, "I've already handed over command to Commander Schmidt, logged us both as unavailable, and told the kids once we get gravity back to go with Slippy."

Fox smiled as his hands settled onto Krystal's hips, "Well you've thought of everything haven't you? What about David?"

Krystal nodded, "I had a quick word with him and told him we'd meet with him later."

She then leaned in and kissed her husband again, this time drawing it out. She smiled as a few moments later she felt Fox slide the safety harness out around them, which automatically snugged against her back and pressed them tightly together. Krystal laughed as she struggled to pull her hands free from where the harness had them trapped between them.

Finally she gave up and just went back to kissing Fox, who readily resumed as well, his own hands settling onto Krystal's blue jean covered backside. When they felt the rough jolt of docking clamps on their hull, followed by the abrupt return of gravity, Fox released the harness and said, "Let's move along. Shall we?"

Krystal giggled as she was lowered to the floor and she unbuttoned her jeans. Fox quickly slid them down before undoing his own trousers and pulled them off, "No panties? Good girl", Fox growled, his lust now in full swing. Fox yanked up Krystal's shirt and began to lick and gently nibble on her exposed breasts while she squirmed to kick away her pants, leaving her naked from the waist down. As Fox found her left nipple he muttered, "Such a good girl", and began to suckle as his left hand dipped between her legs.

Krystal gasped as he gently rubbed her, quietly enjoying his gentle touch. When he pulled his hand back and spread her legs she looked down to see him pulling his erection out of the slit in his boxers. Once he was free he lay down on top of her and began to grind his hips against her naked sex, coating his shaft in the exuberant amount of moisture she was producing.

Krystal groaned as the fleshy rod rubbed over her clit and she whispered, "F-Fox! I…"

But she was silenced as Fox kissed her hard. He then reached between them and slid himself into her, forcing a long, low groan from each of them. As Fox began to move within her Krystal whimpered and bit her lip and tilted her head to the side, which allowed Fox to start kissing and licking her neck, right beneath her jaw.

Clenching her inner muscles and feeling her husband move inside her, Krystal lost herself in the abandon of their joining, whimpering softly as she felt him pick up his pace, then crying out as she peaked, finally smiling as she felt him do the same deep inside her. Unable to stay there and fully enjoy the moment, Krystal sighed as she felt Fox pull out, letting a small torrent of fluid pour out of her as he tucked his retreating shaft away.

Krystal sat up and looked around for her jeans, spotting them quickly she stood and moved towards them, swaying her hips as she knew Fox was watching her backside. She heard her husband laugh as she bent over to pick up the pants.

"Oh you're horrible Krystal."

The blue vixen looked over her shoulder and gave a coy smile.

Fox chuckled as he re-zipped his vest, which had come undone, before moving towards the door and saying, "Once we get home you should expect a good fucking."

Krystal laughed, "I look forward to it."

_Official Log Captain Fox McCloud_

_March 30__th__, 2229_

_The Titan's__ picked up a lot more survivors thru the night. Mostly AR-wings and KI-wings, with the odd shuttle or escape pod, as most of our ships did not have the time to evacuate. Our losses were staggering, almost forty thousand souls lost, three dozen ships destroyed or fatally crippled. Our armada's been cut in half. But at least we managed to destroy that thing that Wesker'd built…God damn him!_

Fox looked away from the screen for a moment to compose himself.

_I can't believe it. That son of a bitch survived. I don't know how but he did. We found him, barely alive on the only Umbrella vessel to survive the battle, along with his security chief, who stupidly tried to fight the marines who boarded the shuttle._

Fox snorted before continuing, thinking of how he'd pumped that man full of rounds.

_Dumbass. Wesker's been moved to __The Titan's __Sickbayand placed under twenty-four hour surveillance, no fewer than four guns leveled at him at any time, not that he could do anything anyway. The bastard's been without his injections for a week, so all his little powers are gone, his strength sapped to nothing. The fucker probably can't even move. David says he's going to be tried for war crimes, attempted genocide, treason, terrorism, things like that. With the mountain of evidence against him Wesker is going to rot in the deepest darkest hole the government can find._

_Captain Price's had to call off the search for more survivors, the scans aren't finding any more life signs in the debris field…_

There was a buzz from the door and Fox walked over, stopped Falco who had also moved. The panels slid open to reveal a calico feline marine standing there in his light duty uniform, a simple dark grey tunic and trousers with highly polished black boots matching his black belt and gloves, a CEB-7 holstered at his hip.

"Sir? Could you come with me please?"

Fox arched his brow and was quiet for a moment before saying, "Sure. Just let me grab my boots."

After donning his footgear Fox walked back to the door and out in the hall, "So what's this about Lieutenant?"

The marine kept walking, leading Fox to a lift, "The Emperor wishes to have a word with you."

Fox swallowed slightly and remained silent until they stopped before the Emperor's quarters. The marine stood at attention beside the door after hitting the chime. When the doors parted, followed by the Emperor's voice saying, "Enter", Fox stepped inside.

Having never been inside these luxury suites before he took a moment to look around. Unlike most other quarters, which were fairly Spartan and grey, these were painted a warm, almost tan color, with the various chairs colored in dark, chocolate browns. There were numerous pictures hung on the walls, most of the emperor's family and home, simply called, The Manor.

"Mr. McCloud."

Fox turned to see David and several advisors entering from what was probably the Emperor's office. The black feline reached out and shook Fox's hand and smiled, "How are you?"

Fox smiled in return, "Fine Sir…good actually", his smile widened, "We got Emily back."

David's grin also grew, "So I heard. You are one lucky sonovagun Fox."

The black feline gestured over to the small dining area where he and Fox sat down, "Listen Fox. I think we've got a problem. From the minute we pulled him in Wesker's been talking about a back-up plan of his."

Fox leaned forward slightly and clasped his hands, "What plan?"

David shrugged, "He won't say, just that we'll find out soon enough. Frankly he's got me a little worried", David looked out the window, "The things this man can do…I don't want more people to get you think your wife could…"

Fox nodded, "Don't worry Sir. I'll run Krystal down there and she can do a sweep of his mind. We'll find out what Wesker has planned."

The Emperor tipped his head and said, "Thank you."

Fox left as David turned to look back out the window at the warp tunnel _The Titan_ was soaring thru back towards Cornaria.

Right around twenty minutes later Fox and Krystal walked into Sickbay and straight over to Wesker's bed. Fox showed his I.D. to the guards and stood next to the prone and severely weakened man, "One chance Wesker, Tell me what this backup plan is."

The human chuckled, "What for? Whether I tell you or not makes no difference. I'm dying. So there's nothing you can do to me, except speed up the process."

Fox snorted and said, "Fine."

Turning to his wife he said, "Do your thing."

Krystal nodded grimly and sat down on the edge of the bed, staring into Wesker's glazed over eyes. For a moment that's all that happened. Then she slowly reached over and settled her left hand on the human's forehead.

Quietly muttering in Cerinian, Krystal's eyes slid closed as she formed the link with Wesker, and nobody moved, each set of eyes in the room, even the doctors and nurses, fell on Krystal. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes nothing happened, save for the ship dropping out of warp. Krystal's brow was furrowed in frustration before she finally removed her hand and sighed, "His mind's too far gone. I can't get anything to last."

Fox settled his hand on her shoulder and nodded, "It's fine. David just wanted you to try."

As they walked past the guards again Fox said telepathically, "Do you think you could just keep tabs on him though? He might let something slip."

Krystal nodded and they split up, Krystal to go back to their children, Fox to report to the Emperor. Fox walked into the Emperor's quarters just as _The Titan_ docked with the Beltino Orbital Station. He saw him standing, looking out at the planet's surface below. Walking over Fox said, "Wesker's mind is too weak. Krystal couldn't maintain a strong enough link to get anything from him."

David sighed, "Very well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Fox stepped up beside the Emperor and said, "It's a nice view."

David chuckled, "They knew what they were doing when they designated these as diplomat's quarters, not only for their size but location", "He turned and walked over to the small kitchen area and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottled water. After offering one to Fox he sat down and continued, "During travel they hold no special characteristics, but when docked with a space station, they hold either a spectacular view of the planet below or of the stars out the other side, depending on which side you're on."

Fox nodded, "That's why all personal quarters on _The Great Fox II_ were moved up to the top deck. No matter where your room is you have an amazing…"

Fox stopped mid sentence as Krystal shouted in his head, "Fox! I know his plan!"

The vulpine looked at the Emperor and said, "Excuse me David."

Walking out of the suite Fox telepathically asked, "What are they?"

"His plan is to die. He's got a small device implanted near his heart. When he dies, his body will stop sending signals to the device and it will trigger a…"

Fox lost his link when the jarring klaxon alarm of a red alert blasted thru the ship. The vulpine broke into a sprint and as fast as he could ran to Sickbay. Inside the sound of a heart monitor gone flat line could be heard, along with numerous medical personnel trying in vain to revive Wesker. And out the windows on the far side of the room Fox could see large mushroom shaped clouds on the surface, spitting dark smoke and debris into the atmosphere. From behind him Fox heard the door open right before he heard Krystal's voice.

" I thought you'd come here when our link collapsed."

Fox growled as he continued to stare at the dozen or so clouds he saw, "What has he done? What were those?"

Krystal sighed, "Those were his T-virus storage facilities."

Fox felt his face go slack as he realized that Wesker had just infected the entire planet…

**End Chapter Eighteen**

You know what I want for CHristams? A review from my readers!

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Holidays

Undead Fox


	21. Whispers in the Dark

**This is a Re-post, 'cause I'd realised I'd forgotton some small details and it was bugging me.**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Chapter Nineteen: Whispers in the Dark**

David Schwartz, current Emperor of the System of Lylat, stood on the main observation deck of the city-station Pavilion. In front of him were dozens of news crews and cameras, behind him, the massive windows that looked down on the planet Cornaria. The massive explosions that had rocked the surface an hour ago had left massive columns of smoke in the air, along with an unknown quantity and quality of T-virus.

"I am sorry, people of Lylat. You chose me to be your emperor. And as your emperor it was my duty to orchestrate the defense of the empire. I have failed at this. As many of you are aware, two weeks ago a viral agent know as the T-virus was released in Cornaria City. It was contained. Now the man who released that initial outbreak has finished the job. With his dying breath Albert Wesker unleashed his plague upon us, intending to take the entire planet with him. In order to stop him I have ordered the immediate evacuation of the planet's surface. I have called the entire armada back to Cornaria in an attempt to speed the process.

If each citizen will please proceed directly to their nearest spaceport or military base, there you will be scanned and given a dose of the anti-virus if found to be infected. The uninfected will be immediately evacuated while the infected shall be moved to quarantine. Due to the highly contagious nature of the T-virus, I implore you all, to avoid contact with any known infected, and avoid the victims of the virus at all costs. If you do not think you can make it to any facility then our search and rescue teams will find you.

I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Fox McCloud."

The various cameras turned to Fox as he walked up and stood to David's right.

"Thank you Emperor Schwartz. I have been brought in to warn you about these things."

Fox took a breath before walking over to a large monitor. After touching the screen an image of Cornaria City popped up.

"This is footage from a traffic camera during the outbreak in Cornaria City."

Touching the screen again Fox played a short clip, "As you can see, the infected are highly aggressive and very fast. The virus also increases their physical strength, and completely removes their dependency on their vital organs, such as the heart and lungs. Thus the infected are extremely difficult to kill, so avoid them at all costs. They are attracted to sound, so stay as quiet as possible. Also, depending on the infected's species and olfactory condition upon death, they will also be able to smell you, so stay downwind when possible.

If you are faced with an infected and cannot get away, there are ways to kill them. Sever the top of the spinal column", the screen changed to show a C.G. image depicting a neck being snapped, "Or shoot them in the head", again the image changed, "Again, avoid the infected whenever possible, These tactics are absolutely your last resort. This message will be repeated over all television channels on a constant basis. Stay safe everyone."

Fox then stepped back into the crowd, a few cameras following him as David again took the center to take questions. Fox moved quickly thru the crowd and headed back towards his quarters, where Krystal and the children were waiting. As he entered the room Fox heard Emily crying and Krystal whispering to her.

"It's alright baby. I know how it hurts."

Walking to the bedroom Fox leaned in the doorway and said, "How is she?"

Krystal looked up at him and gave a small smile, "Better. I've got her telepathic center under control, but it's still going to be hard on her", looking over her shoulder at Falco, who was sitting by Emily's side and holding her hand, Krystal said, "Her mind is so strong Fox. Far stronger than it should be at her age."

The two adults walked back out into the living room where they sat on the lone sofa, Fox cradling Krystal in his arms. The blue vixen looked up at her husband and said, "What about you? How are you recovering?"

Fox sighed and held out his left hand., concentrating. After a brief moment a small silver ball, maybe an inch across formed, "That's about all I can do. Whatever Wesker gave me has damaged my abilities beyond their ability to heal. At least I can still sense your wellbeing, even if I can't talk to you anymore."

Krystal nodded, "Yes. At least there's that."

After a minute of silence Fox patted Krystal's shoulder to get her attention and said, "I'm going to ask Captain Price for a shuttle. I'm going to help in the evacuation."

Krystal started to speak but stopped, sighing, "Fine. But be careful."

Fox chuckled and kissed the top of her head, "When am I not?"

On the surface…

In nearly every city and town on the surface police sirens wailed as the infection spread. Most major cities were in total anarchy as people tried to evacuate as cops and soldiers fought the ravenous dead. Small towns were bloating to enormous size as refugees swarmed to them on their way to the military bases. The nuclear explosives, which Wesker had built himself from advanced Lylatian materials, had produced EMP waves that had fried every single active piece of technology on the planet that didn't have military shielding. Nearly all cars, both air and ground models, became so many useless hunks of metal. Power circuits blew out in houses all over the planet, plunging it into a darkness it hadn't seen for millennia.

Only emergency generators kept the hospitals and prisons running, not that it mattered. The hospitals were the first to be overrun, as the virus's airborne strain infected anyone with a weakened immune system, and it burned thru them quickly, killing and reviving them to spread the virus again.

As the civilians poured into the military bases later that day hundreds of shuttles lifted off, carrying their maximum capacities back up into space.

Emperor Schwartz had seen the numbers, and they sickened him. Conservative estimations had shown a sixty-five percent fatality rate, simply because there weren't enough ships available to evacuate everyone. Even with a large supply of antivirus available, a fortuitous decision by Fox and Peppy years ago, the bases would still be overrun. These things never tired, never faltered in their determination, whereas the survivors did. As David stood on the observation deck onboard Pavillion he watched the crown jewel of his empire burn and fall.

Behind him he heard the doors part and someone enter and he smiled as he recognized the slight limp, and the sound of a cane.

"General Hare. Nice to know you made it quickly."

Peppy snapped to attention as best he could and saluted, "_The Leonidus_ is at your service Sire."

David glanced at the interceptor floating into orbit and nodded, "Start your landing process immediately. Gather as many survivors as you can, we'll treat them up here. Unless they are obviously infected bring them up."

Peppy arched his brow and said, "And if it's obvious Sir?"

David looked over his shoulder and said grimly, "Then put them down."

Peppy nodded grimly and saluted, before turning and marching out of the room…

Twenty minutes later _The Leonidus _touched down on the landing pad at Military Outpost 35. As they lowered the main boarding ramp and started letting in survivors they heard blaster fire start from atop the walls. Each refugee was quickly scanned by a guard. If found to carry the virus they were separated from the group, sometimes none too kindly, and placed in another group, where they were given a dose of the anti-virus and told to wait. As the day wore on if they showed no more symptoms then they were boarded and sent away.

It was in the final waning hours of daylight that Fox's shuttle touched down at that same outpost and the vulpine disembarked, moving towards the officer's mess to grab some much needed food. As he flopped down at one of the plain metal tables, his tray full of simple food, a sandwich, bowl of soup, and a single soda. After eating and feeling refreshed he walked back towards his shuttle. As he passed the group that had failed the scans Fox closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the cries coming from that group. Suddenly he heard another warning shout from the walls.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Drawing his sidearm out of reflex Fox ran over to the stairs and mounted the wall. Right as he reached the top he heard a distinct roar and had to duck as a Landmaster came flying thru the air and crashed on the landing pad.

"Good Lord there's another one!"

Fox finally looked over the wall and balked at what he saw. Turning to the soldiers he said, "Don't just stand there! Fire!"

Fifteen blasters targeted the massive Tanks and opened up. But the small rounds had little effect as the twin beasts roared again and began pounding on the front gates, each impact causing the foot thick steel doors to shake and vibrate in their frames. Fox swallowed hard as he saw that the rifles didn't have the firepower to drop the behemoths, So thinking quickly he turned and vaulted off the wall, rolling as he hit the ground twenty feet below and running straight for his shuttle. Running in the open rear hatch, past the civilians who'd been cleared and loaded, Fox heard the gates give a warning groan as they prepared to fail .

And as the shuttle's engines roared to life, lifting it from the ground, those gates finally caved. Four hundred Marines had gathered in the courtyard and each began firing at the gates, but it was futile. With a final, thundering roar the gates flew open and in poured the flood of zombies. The sprinting undead quickly reached the defensive lines. And the soldiers did their best to fend them off.

But for every zombie that fell, it seemed as if three more took their place. Seeing this Fox swung the shuttle over and powered up it's wing tip cannons and fired into the rushing swarm. The undead numbers thinned under the heavy blasts, and even the Tanks fell, blown to bits by the balls of burning energy. As the people below recovered Fox set the shuttle to hover and leaned out the back hatch, shouting.

"Get everyone on-board the _Leonidus_!"

Non-combat personnel and civilians began to run up the loading ramps and into the frigate while the surviving guards and marines protected them from the undead that managed to pass the bombardment of Fox's cannons. The doors slid closed as the last one ran aboard, however a group of six soldiers had gotten separated from the others and made a run for the wall. Fox opened a COM to the leader and said, "Get up high. I can't land this thing with those bastards in the yard."

After getting an affirmative from the sergeant in charge Fox unlocked the controls and swung the shuttle to hover above one of the guard towers, watching as the _Leonidus_ lifted off with it's extremely precious cargo. He again locked the controls and set the shuttle to hover. Moving back into the troop bay he opened a weapon's locker, yanked out a carbine, loaded it and began firing on the hoard members that had caught up to the surviving marines. Fox growled as he watched one of them get tackled by a zombie and fall, screaming into the open air as the creature tore at his long lapine ears, until Fox put a bolt between it's eyes and it went still, falling from the wall as the soldier scrambled to his feet and ran.

The sergeant dropped to a kneel and turned, firing to cover his men as they ran into the ship. The marine fired until his weapon ran dry, and when it did he grasped the barrel in both hands and swung it like a bat, catching one of the infected in the jaw and sending it cart-wheeling off the ledge. He then threw the empty weapon at the hoard and drew his CEB-8, still firing. As the last marine fastened his harness Fox shouted, "Sergeant! Time to go!"

The vulpine moved back to the cockpit and unlocked the controls, lifting off as the soldier stepped on board. However, as they pulled away from the tower, swinging over the courtyard, a Tank leapt into the air and grabbed the closing rear hatch. Fox lurched in his seat as he felt the sudden doubling of the weight and fought with the controls as the shuttle began to spin. In the troop bay the sergeant, who had yet to fasten his harness, fell to the floor. At the sound of the rear hatch failing he rolled over and drew his side arm again and pulled the trigger.

The rear hatch tore away, along with a good portion of the hull as the Tank fought it's way inside. As the door began to fall the marine released the trigger, sending the overcharge straight into the Tank's roaring face. The resulting explosion tore away the back half of the shuttle, ripping away the tail section and sending the shuttle into a fatal spiral and sending the sergeant sliding into the boots of three of his men. Forcing his way to a seated position the marine watched as the seat opposite him, the one containing the wounded rabbit, tore away from the deck and both chair and soldier went sliding towards the opened back.

Throwing himself forwards the sergeant slid along the deck and out the back, grabbing a piece of the shuttle's frame just as his gloved hand slapped into the outstretched hand of the falling marine.

"T-thank's Gunny. Thought I was a goner."

The sergeant jerked his head up, "Climb yer skinny ass back inside Burns, I ain't holdin' ya all day!"

The rabbit nodded and quickly released his harness, sending his seat falling down to earth as he scrambled up into the crippled shuttle, which had roughly leveled out. After he helped his sergeant back inside the marine walked up to the cockpit and said, "Nice flyin' buddy."

Fox didn't look back as he said, "Don't thank me yet. That Tank did a number on us. We've lost our port thruster and obviously our hull integrity is fucked. We're not getting of the surface in this shuttle."

Pointing at the weapon's locker Fox said, "Green box in the bottom of that locker. There are some anti-virus injections."

The sergeant nodded his helmeted head and followed the directions, pulling out a single vial of the green serum. Fitting it into an injector gun he moved carefully out into the troop bay as the dying shuttle gave a sudden lurch. Behind him he heard Fox say, "Pavillion this is Retrieval One-One-Seven. Come in over."

Standing next to the re-seated Burns he gave him the dose and said, "That should do ya Private."

The rabbit rolled his neck and rubbed the injection spot, "Thanks Gunny."

Fox swallowed. This was bad. It was only a few hours until the quarantine would be set and the surface locked down. Pressing the COM he tried to raise the Pavillion, "Pavillion this is Retrieval One-One-Seven. Come in over."

He let out a relieved breath when he heard a response, "Retrieval One-One-Seven this is Pavillion, why are you not returning to orbit?"

Fox jumped as the fuel warning light flashed on, blinking LOW FUEL, "Pavillion! We have suffered terminal damage to our hull. We have a fuel leak, have lost our port thruster and the rear hatch is gone, we cannot break orbit. Request pickup and rescue at the coordinates I'm sending you."

After Fox activated the emergency transponder there was a brief pause, then, "Retrieval One-One-Seven, we have you at coordinates 30 degrees by 25 feet 36 inches North, 79 degrees by 40 feet 25 inches West. Please confirm."

Fox grunted as the dying engines gave a jolt, "Coordinates confirmed."

"Roger, Coordinates confirmed for the town of Spindal. We will send rescue upon your arrival at those coordinates. Over and out."

Then the link closed. At that moment Fox felt the engines die completely. For a moment there was a feeling of weightlessness, then they fell. The shuttle nosed over into a dive and Fox braced himself against the control panel.

In the back the marines and civilions did the same did the same, buckling themselves in tightly and crossing their arms over their chest to keep their harnesses tight. When the shuttle hit the ground, it's forward momentum caused it to dig a trench nearly three hundred yards long.

When it finally came to a rest the sergeant pulled himself from the wreckage first and looked around with his side arm drawn. Inside Private Burns grimaced at all the civilians, who had no armor t save them from the Gforces of the crash. stepping over a dead crow he rapped on the cockpit door, whispering, "Pilot! Are you alright?"

From inside he heard, "The door's jammed."

The young marine winced and muttered, "Great. We're gonna need a torch to get him out."

One of the other marines shrugged, "Then I guess we leave him."

Burns turned and looked at the faceplate of the one who had spoken, "I can't believe you said that Keiser. This guy risked his life to get us out of there and you want to just leave him to die?"

The marine shrugged again, "Well we can't get to him. And the quarantine is gonna kick in in about six hours, so we don't have the time to try a bypass. We don't have a choice…"

Then there was a loud thud and a dent appeared in the door. The marines all jumped back and pointed their weapons at the door as more and more dents appeared, until finally a bloody hand appeared , punched clean thru the door. That same hand hooked the edge of the ragged hole and they heard a grunt of pain from inside as the arm attached to that hand gave a hard yank and the hatch slid to the side. Then Fox stepped out and batted the nearest rifle away.

"Put that damn thing down!"

The soldiers watched as he peeled the damaged skin off his right hand, revealing a gleaming skeletal prosthetic. Looking around he said, "Introductions, while we've got a minute."

Just then the sergeant came back in, "I'm Gunnery Sergeant Dorian. That's Sergeant Tomas and Corporals Keiser and Sampson", turning he pointed at the final two, "And these are the twins, Sam and Tom Burns."

Then he looked to Fox and asked, "Are you really Fox McCloud?"

Fox nodded, "Yes I am", he brushed past the marine that wanted to leave him and pried open a crushed weapon's locker. Pulling out a HBC he checked it to ensure it was still functional before grabbing an armor harness and fitting it over his tattered shirt. When he was done he said, "You should re-supply now. It's a long walk to the evac point."

Then he stepped off the shuttle as the marines gathered what weapons and ammo they could before running out into the grassy fields and scattered trees, leaving no shadows, like whispers in the dark…

**End Chapter Nineteen**


	22. Noble Choices

**Hello Readers! I know that this one took forever, and I'm sorry.**

**But better late than never so here it is, Enjoy!**

**Undead Fox**

**Starfox Evil **

**Book II**

**Chapter Twenty: Noble Choices**

They had run all night, not stopping or even slowing to eat what little food they had with them. So they almost piled up when Fox, who'd been at the lead with Gunnery Sergeant Dorian stopped abruptly just shy of the top of a hill. The marines looked at each other as Fox turned to whisper to the Sergeant, "We need to find a new route."

The lead soldier nodded and started typing into the TACpad built into the buckler on his left forearm. Corporal Keiser tilted his head and said, "Sir? Why do we need a new route?"

Fox stuck a finger to the end of his muzzle and hissed, "Quiet! It'll hear you, you idiot."

The soldier growled low, "Gunny, I say fuck this merc. Let's just march on over there and blast the fucker…"

That was when Fox grabbed the marine's chest plate and yanked him down to the ground, "Shut up and listen."

Keiser was about to argue when he heard a low growling and heavy panting just on the other side of the hill. He shook his head and said, "Again I say what's the problem. Sounds like only one."

Fox shook his head, "One Tank", that shut the corporal up, "That is the exact same sound one of those things makes before it's spotted it's prey."

Drawing a fiber-optic periscope Fox fitted it to his monocle and fed the camera thru the branches of a bush by his head. The image that covered the tiny screen alarmed him, there was indeed a Tank, looked like it had once been a wolf. What alarmed him were the hundreds of zombies shuffling in amongst the trees around it. Pulling back the camera Fox sent the video to all the marines except Tom, who had no helmet or monocle. The wounded rabbit looked at his brother and whispered, "How bad?"

The other rabbit let out an anxious chuckle and took his helmet off, "Utter shitstorm."

Then Dorian looked up, "I don't see any way around that'll put us in Spindal before the quarantine. We have to go thru."

Fox muttered, "Great."

Keiser shifted over and sat down against the base of a tree and mumbled, "We're fucked. We'll get ripped to shreds out there."

Fox suddenly got a steely look in his eyes, "Not if I can help it."

Climbing to his feet he dropped his rifle and ammo to the ground, only keeping his CEB-8 and a few extra charges for it. The marines looked at him curiously as he started to move off into the bushes, stripping off his armor harness.

"Captain McCloud sir", Sam Burns said, "What are you doing?"

Fox sighed, "We'd never make it thru that horde. So I'm gonna lure them away, give you all a chance to escape."

Sam said, "Sir! You can't be serious! You'll be torn apart!"

Fox sighed and pulled off his old dogtags, "I suppose you're right…"

With those words Fox deactivated the safety on his side arm as he threw the tags to Sam and ran up the hill. As soon as he crested it he took aim and shot the closest zombie, shouting, "Come and get it you bastards!"

The horde responded with several screams and a roar from the Tank as Fox took off running leading the zombies away from the marines. They all gawked in the direction the horde had run. Keiser shook his head, "I didn't think he'd do it."

Gunny stood up and shook his head, "C'mon men. Let's not waste this chance."

And they took off running again, as the sound of blaster fire rang in the distance…

Fox ran like his life depended on it, because it did. Behind him he could hear the horde chasing him, and amongst them he could hear the thunder of the Tank, which was roaring more and more now, as if enraged. Looking over his shoulder Fox failed to see the drop until he was falling.

"HOLY SHIIIIIIT!"

Fox found himself tumbling down a hill of shale and bits of stone, before sliding to a stop at the bottom. Climbing groggily to his feet he fired a few rounds at the zombies falling down after him. In his disorientated state he didn't hit any of them, but seeing them cleared his senses and he turned to run again. In that brief moment he found himself in a quarry and he knew this had to be Spindal Quarry, largest producer of salt on the planet. If he could find his way to the mines he could hole up and then…then what?

The thought struck him as he ran towards a large opening in the ground which led down. Once he sealed himself inside he'd be trapped, with no chance for rescue with the quarantine in effect. Fox found a massive set of doors standing ajar and ran inside, into the dark. Hoping this facility had generators he ran to what he assumed to be the control room and threw the largest switch.

Unfortunately it did not shut the doors. It instead activated a large machine which began to grind up the raw salt which was being fed to it by a hopper. From outside Fox heard the roar that told him at least the Tank had heard the sound. Looking more carefully Fox found the switch labeled DOORS/MAIN and flipped it. The massive doors began to slowly slide shut as Fox ran out of the control room. Standing before the doors he again drew his blaster and began to fire, doing his best to thin the horde. Just as the Tank reached the doors they slid shut with a loud, yet dull thud. Then it was very, very quiet. And Fox thought, "So this is what a tomb sounds like."

The six marines, having found the small town of Spindal to be completely empty , not even any zombies wandering around, were now seated in the back of a Typhoon XXII-B, also called a Heavy Bee for it's extra armor and six guns instead of two. None of them spoke as they were directed directly up to the Pavillion. The only one who even moved was Sam Burns, who'd removed his helmet and was now staring at Fox's tags, slowly turning them in his gloved palm. As they felt the gravity settle again they released their harnesses and moved to the back of the ship.

As the doors opened they were met by the expected HAZMAT teams, who directed each of them to an exam room where they were each scanned and cleared. When they each entered the conference room where they were to be debriefed they were each garbed in plain white scrubs, as their uniforms had to be burned due to the excessive amounts of infected blood and flesh stuck to them. The only thing from their old gear they still had were Fox's tags, which Sam simply refused to give up. With the exception of Gunnery Sergeant Dorian they were all seated around the large table. The badger was instead standing ill at ease, facing out the window and looking at the stars.

When he heard the door open and his men jump to attention he turned around, but remained ill at ease, until he saw General Peppy Hare standing there. Upon seeing the aging lapine he snapped to, saying sharply, "General Sir!"

The hare returned the salute and said, "At ease", he looked around, "Where is Captain McCloud? Are those HAZMAT clowns holding him up again?"

Dorian swallowed and said, "No sir. Captain McCloud, he…I mean he's…gone."

Peppy's face went slack, "What?"

Sam stepped over and said, "He sacrificed himself to save us. He drew them away to clear the path."

Sam was quiet for a moment before saying, "He's married? Right Sir?"

The general nodded numbly as the younger hare said, "Then I'm sure she'd want these."

He held out Fox's tags and dropped them into the general's hand and the older hare pocketed them as he said, "You all are on a week's leave. The empire is indebted to you for your service. Dismissed."

They each saluted again before filing out of the room. After the last marine left Peppy sat down and covered his face. He sat there, allowing his grief to flow for a moment before remembering that with this bad news came a responsibility. Walking over to a console he opened up the roster of docked ships. Upon seeing that _The Great Fox II _was still docked he logged out and left the room, heading for the docking bays.

Emily was looking at her reflection in one of the windows along the habitation deck of _The Great Fox II_. Her eyes were focused on the jewel hanging from the chain her mother had woven into her bangs.

"Now be very careful with this sweetie, it's the last of it's kind."

Emily had nodded, but her face was screwed up with pain. However the moment the bright red gem had come to rest against her forehead the thousands of screaming voices in her head had lowered to a dull whisper. She blinked away some residual tears then looked up at her mother. Though she was smiling Emily felt that her mother's face looked a little off. That was when she realized that the gem hanging from her hair used to hang from her mother's. reaching up she felt the six pearls, three on either side of the main gem.

Krystal had brushed her thumb over the girl's cheek as she said, "That is a focus gem. It's a training tool our people used to use to shield their minds against the voices of others."

That had been when the door to their quarters had chimed and Krystal had let in Peppy. Then Krystal had told her daughter to wait outside. With the focus gem on her untrained mind could only get a very vague feel for the atmosphere of the room. It felt bad.

Even though she didn't know why she felt tears filling her eyes while her untrained mind tried to take in all the thoughts it was feeling. That was when Falco and a human friend of his walked up.

Krystal was sobbing uncontrollably. So much so that she'd slumped over against Peppy who'd sat down next to her. The aging hare was crying as well, for Fox had been like the son he'd never had. After a short while Krystal scooped up Fox's tags, which she'd dropped to the floor after she realized what they were.

"He told me he would be careful, that he'd come home if the risk became to great."

Peppy sniffed and wiped away a tear, "I hadn't even known he was down there until Gunnery Sergeant Dorian and his team came back up and identified themselves to dispatch as the survivors of Retrieval One-One-Seven."

Krystal gave a weak smile, "One Seventeen actually. It's the time of day when Emily was born."

There was a silence for a moment before Peppy spoke again, "He may not be dead you know."

Krystal gave him a confused look and Peppy said, "One of the survivors said Fox drew the infected away to clear the way for them. They heard gunfire, but never saw him get taken, so…it's possible that he…"

Peppy was interrupted by the door chiming. Composing herself as best she could she said, "Enter."

The doors parted and in stepped Falco his hand resting on Emily's shoulder, "Mom? Something's wrong with Emily. She's just out here cryin' and…"

When he noticed the pained looks on his mother and grandfather's faces he stopped talking for a moment. Then the boy who showed no signs of telepathic talent seemed to read their minds and said, "Dad's dead isn't he?"

Emily's eyes widened as she looked quickly between her brother and mother as Krystal tried to speak, "Muttering, "He…well I…"

Finally Peppy said, "It doesn't look good."

Emily choked out a sob and tore across the room to burry her face in her mother's lap and cry. Falco followed a moment later hugging his mother tightly and holding back his own tears as he pressed his face to her shoulder. Krystal hugged her children tightly and said, "It's going to be alright. Grampa says your father might still be alright. Nobody saw him die so he's probably safe and sound, just stuck."

Emily looked at the older hare in the bright red uniform and mumbled, "R*hic*really?"

Peppy nodded a soft smile on his face, "Fox is probably sitting on the living room sofa right now, just waiting for us to come get him."

Falco sniffed and asked, "And are you gonna go get him?"

That was the question Peppy had been hoping to avoid. Krystal knew why but the odds of the children understanding were slim. So Peppy said, "You bet your britches we are."

Emily Smiled and said, "Promise?"

Peppy swallowed and nodded, "Promise. Now why don't you two go play. I need to talk to your mother some more."

Emily wiped her eyes and nodded before hurrying off thru the narrow side door that led to the children's room. Falco coughed and also wiped his eyes before saying, "Actually I was wondering if I could go stay the night at Jerome's place? His dad says it's alright with him."

Krystal smiled and nodded, "Sure. Go pack and have fun."

Falco ran thru the same door Emily had and came back out moments later with a small red backpack slung over one shoulder. He waved to his grandfather and mother as he ran out the door. When it was quiet again Krystal turned and actually glared at Peppy, "What you just did is not fair Peppy."

The hare sighed as Krystal got up to stare out the large window. After a moment of awkward silence he said, "What should I have said? That they'd likely never see their father again?"

He stopped when he heard the anger in his voice and took a deep breath. He shook his head and said, "I meant what I told them though. I will do my best to get Fox back to you."

Krystal turned slightly and spat over her shoulder, "How? The planet is under quarantine. Total lockdown. Nothing leaves the surface."

Peppy shook his head, "That's not totally true. While the lockdown is going to last indefinitely, the quarantine only has a lifespan of ten years so…"

He was interrupted by Krystal whirling around and shouting, "He won't survive for ten years!"

Peppy held his hands out in front of him and said, "Now come on, this is Fox we're talking about here. The man has survived more hell than anyone else I know. He knows what to do to stay alive down there."

"Yes but he might not have the ability to", the blue vixen sighed and rubbed her temple, "Fox isn't a young man anymore, a fact he, you, and everybody else seems to be overlooking. His fiftieth birthday is in four days. The dead won't what kind of skills and knowledge he has, they will simply throw themselves at him until he falls."

She turned back to the window and again stared at the planet. For a moment she was silent then she closed her eyes and placed her hands against the window. That was when Peppy noticed that her face was scrunched up in concentration. Then she said, "No I can't feel him."

Peppy blinked, he hadn't known she could read someone's mind while searching for another.

"It's because my mind is un-caged now. It's not as bad as it was when I was a child but my mind is still being swarmed with any nearby and unguarded thoughts, like yours", the vixen opened her eyes and Peppy saw a fresh sheen of tears in them, "You would think, with the world so empty now, that even with my mind running loose like it is I'd be able to find him, despite what Wesker did to him."

Dropping her hands she wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "But I can't. Not with those other minds down there", she pointed at the dark expanse of Gateway City, "There are around a hundred people trapped there, another three or so spread across the continent. The eastern continent fared much better, only two hundred people left behind…"

Peppy heard her growl these last few words and stepped close enough to gently grasp her shoulders, "Krystal…"

"Left to die! That is what most of them feel. That they have been abandoned by the government that was sworn to protect them."

Then her face kind of went slack and she said, "Or contain them."

Before Peppy could form the words she said, "The convicts. The continental prisons failed and all the convicts are loose…"

In her mind's eye Krystal could see a large mob of people in orange jumpsuits and what she assumed were stolen guard's uniforms moving into Gateway City. She watched them use stolen weapons to kill zombies left and right, smiling and laughing as they did so. They were clearly untrained, their form and aim sloppy, but it worked against the stray infected they encountered. Then they started kicking down doors. And Krystal watched, horrified, as there was a scream and they dragged a pair of feline women out into the streets. They were clearly a mother and her teenage daughter. Even from this distance Krystal could feel the lust emanating from most of the convicts, though a few turned away, not wanting to watch what they knew was coming.

Shuddering Krystal concentrated and managed to block out the convicts as they descended on the women, grateful that she had enough control to block out their screams and cries, and began her search again. She told Peppy what she had just seen and she heard the general growl.

"Those animals! The world comes to a shrieking halt and the first thing they do is start raping other survivors and pillaging like savages."

He was silent for a moment then put on his headset and opened a COMlink, "Karen? Get me orbital defense. Yes I'll hold."

The hare tapped his foot and said, "Colonel Bright? This is High General Hare. I have a target for you. Gateway city, northeast sector, block 800. There is a large cluster of infected there and I want you to eradicate it. Use the smallest round you have, I want to minimize the collateral damage as much as possible, understand? Good, Hare out."

The rabbit noticed Krystal giving him a look as he killed the link and said, "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior, not on my planet, or in my home city."

His eyes shifted out the window at the rotating Orbital gun _Defiant_. The station's pain gun began to glow hot for a moment as power built up in it's chamber. Krystal shifted her mind briefly back to the crowd of convicts and found their victims, tossed aside and left to die, naked on what had been their front lawn.

Focusing on the two of them she muttered, "Get up and run."

She saw the mother pick her head up and look around before weakly pulling herself to her feet and reaching down to grasp her daughter. As they began to stagger away there was a shout and Krystal saw the convicts take notice of them and start back. Again Krystal connected with them and said, "Run! North!"

The two began to weakly run as the _Defiant_ began it's final charge. Krystal felt her nose begin to bleed as she scanned the quiet world thru the eyes of the mother. Spotting a large house Krystal said, "There!"

The mother grasped her daughter's hand tightly and pulled her towards the house. They ran thru the open front door and were directed towards a closed door that led under the stairs. The mother tried the knob and found it locked. When she began to panic she heard a voice whisper, "Speak", and so she did.

"Help!Please!"

There was a moment of silence then the door swung open. Inside was a grizzled old human, who gawked at the naked and stained women who stood before him, "Good Lord. What happened?"

The two rushed inside, the mother pushing him aside and slamming the door before latching the many locks she found there. She was then spun around and found a very indignant looking old man glaring at her.

"Just what the hell do y'all think yer doin'? Y'caint just come bargin' in like that I coulda shot ya're done worse."

But the woman pushed past him and ran down a narrow flight of stairs. She found her daughter sitting in the corner, holding her torn and tattered blouse, the only garment she still had, tight to her chest. Just as she moved towards her daughter there was a phenomenal roar, followed by a blinding light as the ground seemed to heave around them. Then the lights went out…

**End Chapter Twenty**


	23. EpiloguePreview

**And We've come to the end…NOT!**

**Just kidding I do plan to write a third book and have begun work on the first chapter. I any case Here's the epilogue for Starfox Evil Book II.**

**Enjoy. And Please review-Undead Fox**

**Starfox Evil**

**Book II**

**Epilogue: Burn the Rulebook**

Peppy stood looking out at the dark planet. Six highly decorated marines sat behind him. He looked over his hsoulder at them, then glanced at the door. Behind which he knew that two specialists waited.

"Gentlemen. I am well aware that it has been difficult these last three weeks, traveling here without the warp gates is not easy, or practical…but it was necessary for this mission."

Stepping down from the podium and opening up a small satchel on his side he pulled out three pairs of data chips, "These are three very important members of our military structure who never made it off the surface. These two Generals were the assistant director and director of our clandestine operations. Obviously those missions have been over since the Aparoid incident, but there are still those out there who might wish to seek out these agents for revenge. And this Lieutenant Colonel managed to contact us three days ago. He was the head of our military R&D. If the knowledge in his head were to fall into the wrong hands… Well."

He handed each pair to a pair of soldiers, "You shall be split into three teams, each team will be hot dropped to the last known location of each target. Unfortunately you'll have to find your way from there. And you'll only have forty-eight hours. If you can't find them by then, then presume they're dead and fall back to your designated extraction points. At forty-eight hours and one minute if you aren't there, then the pilots have orders directly from me to leave your tails behind. Am I clear?"

Six voices said in unison, "Sir Yes Sir!"

Peppy nodded, "Good. Report to the armory and get your gear."

The six soldiers quickly filed out, and as the last one cleared the doorway Peppy waved in the others.

"Mr. Connor. Mr. Trident. Did you listen in over the intercom?"

Will nodded and leaned against the wall, "Yes we did. And Given that information…why call us? It's not like Starfox has the clearence to go to the surface for anyone."

Peppy gave the scarred mouse an odd look, muttering, "Not officially anyway", then he pressed the close button on the control pad. He then deactivated the intercom, "But this mission will not be an official mission."

He sighed and sat down in one of the chairs, groaning as his knees ached with the movement, "I need you to go down there and bring Fox back."

This caused Will's remaining ear to perk up and he uncrossed his arms from the front of his clean and pressed Starfox uniform, "Sir. Are you sure of what you're asking?"

Peppy snapped, "I'm damn sure! Before he died I made James a promise. To watch over and protect Fox as best I could. And I don't think I'll be honoring his memory if I leave Fox to die with the rest", he covered his eyes and sighed the rest, "And I couldn't live with myself, letting Emily and Falco grow up without their father, just like Fox had to."

Will looked over at his ferret companion and saw him nod. Then he stood in front of Peppy's sad form and stuck out his hand, "We'll take the job."

Peppy didn't quite smile, but his face gained a little hope as he stood to shake the offered hand, "Thank you Will. I owe you so much."

The mouse shook his head, "Don't worry about it Peppy. Fox has saved my life on several occasions. I owe him at least this much", he paused then said, "So do we have the same parameters as the official team?"

Peppy shook his head, "Not quite. Officially you'll be down there to recover this man", he handed Will a single data chip, "Doctor Alan Freeman. Best neurosurgeon on the planet. He was on the Emperor's advisory staff during the initial outbreak", he wiped his face before continuing, "He died when the Emergency command building was overrun. Of course, thanks to a little tampering by Red and Diana, he contacted us a week ago, requesting pickup near the Spindal salt mines."

Will let out a soft chuckle, "And wouldn't you know it, the good doctor has fallen victem to the virus…but look who else we found!"

Now Peppy did smile, "You've got it."

Will's brow furrowed and he said, "You do realize that if this somehow get's found out, it'll mean your office, the Emperor will not be able to back you. He'll say you acted without authorization and…"

"I am."

That kind of stunned both mercenaries, that is until The aging hare explained, "Boys this office, this uniform means extremely little to me. I accepted the post because I knew that the emperor needed to keep an eye on me because of the T-virus work I had done. Oh it wasn't his choice, but his advisors voted in no confidance of him, so here I am. David decided to not make it a complete insult by putting some clout behind it, but still. If I get caught, then I get caught. Oh well. Now go get your gear. And load for bear…intel shows extensive mutations in some cases."

Will nodded and turned to his fellow mercenary and say, "C'mon Gunner. Let's go save the boss…"

**End Book II**

**And now…a brief preview of Starfox Evil Book III!**

Cornaria. Fourth Planet of the Lylat System. Home to the empire's capitol city…or at least it used to be. Now the one glorious crown jewel of the Lylatian Empire sits dark, and dead killed by a madman with his dying breath. Now massive hordes of the undead roam the surface, hunting down any survivors who've been left behind.

Spindal City. Population five thousand forty two.

Spinal Salt Mine. Once the largest producer of raw salt on the planet…third in the Empire.

Two soldiers stand on the edge of the mining pit, watching the undead mill about at the bottom. Behind them were a small group of survivors. One of the soldiers turned his armored head and said, "So any idead on how we're getting in there without getting torn to shreds?"

The other shook his head, "Not a one Will."

The first glanced at the cronometer in the corner of his HUD, "Well we've got thirty-six hours to come up with an idea."

It was then they heard the telltale screech of one of the mutated zombies, and as it came bursting out of the brush one of the survivors yelled, "SMOKER!"


End file.
